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Tabernacle  Church  : 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  WORK 


WITH     THE     DOCUMENTS     RELATING     TO     THE     RESIGNATION 
OF     ITS     PASTOR, 


Rev.   JOSEPH   P.   THOMPSON,   D.  D. 


NEW    YORK 
1871. 


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BROADWAY 


Tabernacle  Church : 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  WORK  : 


WITH     THE     DOCUMENTS     RELATING     TO     THE     RESIGNATION 
OF     ITS     PASTOR, 


Rev.    JOSEPH   P.    THOMPSON,   0.  D. 


NEW    YORK. 
1871. 


ANNOUNCEMENT 


RESIGNATION. 


On  the  morning  of  Sabbath,  October  22d,  1871,  the  pastor 
made  to  the  congregation  the  following  announcement : 

In  fulfillment  of  a  purpose  formed  some  time  ago,  for  a  reason 
strictly  personal,  which  at  that  time  was  conclusive  to  my  own 
mind,  and  which  has  since  become  imperative,  I  do  now  resign 
the  office  of  pastor  in  this  church,  which  I  have  held  for  more 
than  twenty-six  years.  I  shall  request  the  church,  at  its 
meeting  on  the  1st  of  November  next,  to  unite  with  me  in 
calling  a  Council  for  the  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation. 
But  it  would  not  be  proper  to  keep  the  congregation  in  sus- 
pense until  that  time  ;  and  I  therefore  affectionately  invite  all 
persons  who  are  stated  attendants  upon  my  ministry,  members 
of  the  congregation  as  well  as  of  the  church,  to  come  together 
in  an  informal  manner,  to-morrow  evening  at  8  o'clock,  in  the 
chapel  ;  when,  in  the  confidence  of  a  family  gathering,  I  will 
state  the  cause  which  has  compelled  me  to  this  step,  and  which 
at  the  same  time  compels  my  retirement  from  every  form  of 
public  office  and  responsibility.  In  making  this  announce- 
ment, from  a  decided  though  painful  conviction  of  duty,  I  throw 
myself  upon  that  indulgent  regard  with  which  this  people  of 
my  love  have  always  favored  me. 

Having  announced  his  resignation,  the  pastor  preached  the 
following  sermon. 


SERMON 


LtTKE  ii.,  2U,  30.  Lord,  now  lettest  tliou  tliy  servant  depart  in  peace,  accord- 
ing to  thy  word  :  for  mine  eyes  Lave  ^■■■\i  thy  salvation. 

Depart  we  must.  Depart,  it  may  be,  like  Abraham  from 
home,  kindred,  country, — going  forth  into  a  strange  land,  "  not 
knowing  whither  he  went."  Depart,  it  may  be,  like  Moses, 
from  position,  influence,  honors,  hopes, — to  go  out  alone  into  the 
wilderness.  Depart,  it  may  be,  like  Paul  from  his  beloved 
church  at  Ephesus,  with  prayers  and  tears  and  sorrow  of  heart, 
obeying  the  voice  of  Providence,  not  knowing  what  should  befall 
him,  save  that  afflictions  awaited  him  wherever  he  should  go. 
Depart  we  must,  at  length,  every  one  of  us,  upon  that  solitary 
journey  from  which  "  he  shall  return  no  more  to  his  house, 
neither  shall  his  place  know  him  any  more."  All  human  utter- 
ances, in  language  and  in  art,  the  strains  of  poetry  and  of  music, 
have  gathered  sadness  around  the  thought  of  parting  ;  and  one 
of  the  most  blissful  hopes  of  heaven  is  ihat  there  we  shall  meet 
to  part  no  more. 

Yet  it  is  possible  that  parting  should  bring  with  it  only  peace. 
The  realization  of  God's  will  in  the  act  itself;  the  consum- 
mation of  God's  purpose  in  the  events  that  have  led  to  it,  or 
have  made  it  necessary  ;  the  assurance  that  God  will  accom- 
plish the  work  of  salvation  in  him  who  goes  and  in  those  who 
remain, — will  make  the  parting  peaceful  in  itself,  and  cause  it 
to  open  the  way  to  a  peace  ineffable  and  everlasting.  He  who 
identifies  his  life  with  the  kingdom  of  God,  when  called  to  go 
anywhere,  in  the  world  or  out  of  it,  shall  depart  in  peace. 


It  was  this  that  imparted  such  exquisite  serenity  to  the  last 
days  of  Simeon.  His  years  admonished  him  that  the  end  of  life 
was  near  ;  but  he  had  one  great  hope  to  live  for — that  he  might 
see  the  Lord's  Christ ;  and  when  he  took  the  babe  in  his  arms, 
the  gates  of  heaven  opened,  that  he  could  depart  in  peace.  How 
beautiful  the  old  age  of  piety  ! — the  faith  and  devotion  that 
through  a  long  life  have  waited  upon  God  merging  into  the 
peace  of  Christ's  coming  and  the  joy  of  the  heavenly  rest  :  no 
fears,  no  anxieties,  no  cares,  no  doubts,  but  a  trust  in  God  so 
calm  and  full  that  even  death  is  waited  for  in  holy  expectation 
as  the  consolation  promised  to  Israel,  as  the  longed-for  vision  of 
Christ  !  This  rich  peace  in  prospect  of  death  comes  of  a  life  of 
faith — "just  and  devout  " — according  to  the  word  of  God.  A 
holy  life  is  the  prelude  of  a  happy  death. 

But  the  aged  saint  is  not  simply  waiting  for  his  departure  : 
he  is  not  severed  from  the  present  and  translated  beforehand 
into  the  future.  Sometimes  such  an  one  fancies  that  because 
his  days  of  activity  are  over  he  has  outlived  his  usefulness  ;  but 
his  life  of  patience  and  hope,  his  mature  and  serene  piety,  his 
devout  waiting  upon  God,  are  a  continual  argument  for  the 
gospel.  He  brings  forth  fruit  in  old  age.  The  cedar  with  the 
growth  of  centuries  upon  it  still  flourishes  in  majestic  beauty. 
"  The  palm-tree  remains  green  all  the  year  round  ;  in  the  cold 
of  winter  no  less  than  in  the  heat  of  summer.  It  grows  slowly, 
but  steadily,  uninfluenced  by  those  alternations  of  the  seasons 
which  affect  other  trees.  Drawing  its  moisture  from  hidden 
springs,  when  the  green  of  the  meadows  is  withered,  and  the 
earth  is  parched  to  powder,  the  palm-tree  still  lifts  aloft  its 
verdant  roof  of  leaves."  The  righteous  shall  flourish  like  the 
palm-tree.  Thus  vigorous  and  refreshing  was  the  piety  of  the 
aged  Simeon,  as,  amid  the  unbelief  and  deadness  of  his  times,  he 
prayed  and  waited  for  the  consolation  of  Israel.  But  his  hope 
and  joy  were  not  for  himself  alone.  He  longed  and  prayed  for 
the  salvation  of  the  world — a  salvation  which,  coming  with  a 
peculiar  glory  to  his  own  beloved  nation,  should  also  lighten  the 
Gentiles  and  shine  upon  the  face  of  all  people. 

He  who  would  keep  his  own  heart  fresh,  his  own  piety  glow- 
ing, should  carry  in  his  heart  and  remember  in  his  prayers  the 


welfare  of  the  whole  world.  Thus  loving  and  praying,  he  can 
never  grow  old,  never  be  weary,  never  really  die  ;  for  he  is 
identified  with  that  which  is  undying  and  sure.  To  live  is  to 
be  the  Lord's,  and  to  depart  is  peace;  for  this  is  to  be  with 
Christ,  which  is  far  better.  There  are  two  things  that  a  good 
man  longs  for  as  he  goes  on  in  years — the  assurance  of  a  godly 
posterity,  and  some  token  of  the  salvation  of  the  Lord  ;  and 
these  longings  were  satisfied  to  this  patient  saint. 

Who  Simeon  was — what  was  his  occupation,  what  was  his 
social  standing,  what  office  he  held,  how  much  he  was  worth 
when  he  died — such  items  as  these  that  men  make  so  much  of, 
and  by  which  they  estimate  one  another,  are  all  left  out  of  the 
Bible  story.  The  one  thing  that  gave  Simeon  a  name  and  a 
place  in  this  story  was  his  devout  longing  and  hope  for  his 
nation  and  the  world  through  the  coming  of  Christ.  "  The 
secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  him,  and  he  will  show 
them  his  covenant ;  "  and  Simeon  had  so  completely  identified 
his  life  with  that  spiritual  kingdom  which  Isaiah  and  other 
prophets  had  foretold,  that  the  Lord  took  him,  as  it  were,  into 
his  purposes  ;  and  by  the  Holy  Spirit  assured  him  that  '  •  he 
should  not  see  death  till  he  had  seen  the  Lord's  Christ."  We 
know  not  that  Simeon  had  children  of  his  own  ;  but  he  adopted 
this  Christ-child  as  the  child  of  his  prayer;  and,  waiting,  he 
beheld  in  him  the  seed  of  faith,  the  posterity  of  righteous  souls, 
the  hope  of  coming  generations, — above  all,  the  Restorer  of  the 
kingdom  of  holiness,  the  Redeemer  of  the  world.  And  seeing 
this,  he  could  depart  without  one  unsatisfied  desire.  His  words 
were  not  a  prayer  for  release  from  life,  but  the  grateful,  adoring 
acknowledgment  that  life  was  ended  in  peace,  by  the  filling-out 
of  its  one  great  hope.  He  who  lives  in  and  for  the  salvation 
of  Grod  is  ready  always  to  accept  the  changes  that  Grod  appoints, 
and  to  depart  in  peace. 

I.  He  who  lives  to  Grod  knows  that,  to  that  extent,  his  life  is 
not  in  vain.  Small,  indeed,  is  the  showing  that  most  men  can 
make  of  the  value  of  their  lives,  as  reckoned  upon  what  they 
themselves  have  done  or  produced  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  man- 
kind. Here  and  there  an  inventor,  a  discoverer,  a  poet,  a  phil- 
anthropist,  a  statesman,  a  general,  a  reformer — the  rare  man  of 


the  centuries — is  permitted,  while  yet  living,  to  measure  the 
o-ood  his  life  has  conferred  upon  the  world.  But  how  small  a 
space  in  history  or  in  affairs  does  any  one  life  fill  !  How  do  num- 
bers compress  the  individual !  how  do  events  dwarf  his  deeds  1 
The  weekly  village  newspaper  may  devote  three  columns  to  an 
obituary  of  the  village  squire,  doctor,  or  deacon  ;  but,  in  the 
crowded  columns  of  the  city  press,  a  Gasparin,  a  Grote,  a  Hum- 
boldt is  dismissed  with  thirty  lines — most  men  with  three,  and 
paid  for  at  that !  And  so  the  thoughtful,  modest  man  will  ask 
himself:  Of  what  account  is  my  life  to  the  world  ?  What  have 
I  done  that  I  shall  be  remembered  by  when  I  am  gone  ?  What 
am  I,  that  I  should  be  missed  when  I  am  gone  !  Had  I  enjoyed 
such  or  such  opportunities  of  education,  position,  fortune,  or  had 
I  better  understood  how  to  improve  the  occasions  brought  within 
my  reach,  I  might  have  done  something  worth  living  for  ;  but 
life,  as  I  look  back  upon  it,  has  been  pretty  much  in  vain  !  And 
life  is  in  vain — it  may  be  worse  than  in  vain — except  as  it  is 
linked  to  that  which  lives. 

But  when  the  individual  merges  himself  in  that  Redemp- 
tion of  Humanity  for  which  Christ  lived  and  died,  when  what 
he  lives  for  is  not  to  make  himself  a  name,  but  to  make  known 
the  name  of  Christ,  and  to  bring  glory  to  that  name  ;  then  does 
his  life  partake  of  the  life-power,  which  is  incorruptible  and  im- 
mortal. He  can  no  more  live  in  vain  than  Christ  lived  in  vain, 
than  God  lives  in  vain.  He  may  not  be  able  to  gather  in  the 
fruits  of  his  life  ;  but  none  of  them  shall  fail,  and  the  great  Har- 
vester will  gather  them  in  due  time.  With  the  humility  of 
a  true  disciple  he  may  count  his  sphere  one  of  lowly  service  ; 
but  though  he  die,  his  works  shall  follow  him.  "  Good  old 
Simeon  "  was,  perhaps,  the  highest  epithet  that  aged  Jew  had 
won  in  his  own  narrow  circle ;  but  he  put  himself  in  the  line  of 
God's  salvation  in  Christ ;  and  behold,  his  name  is  storied  in  the 
Gospel,  it  is  hymned  in  the  praises  of  the  Church,  it  is  wrought 
upon  the  canvas  of  the  great  masters,  surrounded  with  the  halo 
of  Christ's  coming  ;  it  is  wreathed  into  crowns  of  peace  and 
hope  over  the  dying-bed  of  the  aged  pilgrim. 

II.  He  who  lives  unto  God  can  depart  in  peace,  since  he 
knows  that  the  future  of  the  world  will  be  the  brighter  because 


9 

of  his  prayers  and  toils  ;  and  that  the  cause  he  loves,  and  has 
lived  for,  will  not  die.  The  man  who  plants  an  acorn  hardly 
expects  to  see  the  full-grown  oak,  but  he  has  faith  in  the  laws 
of  nature,  and  provides  shade  and  beauty,  and  eventually  builds 
ships  and  houses  for  other  generations.  No  man  can  feel  sure 
that  the  linn  he  establishes,  the  house  ho  builds,  the  bank  ho 
creates,  the  government  or  dynasty  he  founds,  shall  stand  for 
fifty  years  ;  for  he  who  builds  upon  human  calculations,  with 
human  elements,  for  human  interests,  builds  with  uncertain  and 
perishable  materials.  But  he  who  works  in  the  line  of  nature's 
laws,  works  with  agencies  as  lasting  as  time.  He  knows  that 
sun  and  air  and  rain  will  work  on  without  ceasing,  year  in  and 
year  out  ;  that  the  silent  forces  which,  for  so  many  hundred 
years, — while  generations  and  races  of  men  have  come  and  gone,— 
have  pumped  up  the  sap  to  the  topmost  leaves  of  the  big  trees 
of  California,  and  of  the  cedars  of  Lebanon, — these  silent  forces 
will  never  tire  of  their  work,  will  never  be  overcome  by  gravity, 
nor  killed  by  winter  ;  but  when  decay  shall  undermine  one  of 
their  living  structures,  they  will  forthwith  build  up  another  from 
its  roots,  or  at  its  side,  and  so  perpetuate  the  life  of  vegetation, 
world  without  end.  And  so  in  the  moral  world  ;  he  who  works 
with  God's  laws  and  for  God's  ends,  links  his  life  with  that 
which  cannot  die.  His  prayers  and  toils  and  tears  may  seem 
'•as  water  spilt  on  the  ground,  which  cannot  be  gathered  up 
again  ;"  but  these  are  the  silent  forces  that  enter  into  the 
growth  of  that  tree  of  life  whose  "leaves  are  for  the  healing  of 
the  nations."  For  Christ  associates  our  prayers  with  his  provi- 
dential purposes,  and  gathers  our  toils  and  tears  into  his  eternal 
triumphs.  That  which  you  see  accomplished  may  be  small  to 
human  vices  ;  that  which  you  rest  your  hope  upon  may  seem 
most  feeble  and  unpromising  to  the  wisdom  of  this  world  :  but 
if  it  be  of  God  and  for  God,  its  future  is  sure. 

There  came  into  the  temple  a  poor  woman,  the  wife  of  a  vil- 
lage carpenter,  fresh  from  the  manger  where  she  had  cradled  her 
babe, — too  poor  to  bring  the  lamb  appointed  for  sacrifice  ;  yet 
the  faith  of  Simeon  discerned  in  this  child  of  poverty  the  light- 
that  should  lighten  the  Gentiles  and  the  glory  of  Israel.  In 
him  he  beheld  all  prophecy  fulfilled,  all  promise  made  sure,  the 


10 

redemption  of  the  world,  the  salvation  of  God.    And  thus  seeing 
and  believing,  he  could  depart  in  peace. 

So  of  whatever  work  you  begin  in  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  to 
the  glory  of  his  name.  The  church  you  organize,  the  mission 
you  start,  the  Christian  school  you  found,  the  charity  you 
endow,  may  be  small  and  unpromising  in  its  begining  ;  but  if 
the  spirit  of  Christ  is  in  it,  this  little  nursling  in  your  arms 
shall  be  a  very  Christ-child  from  which  shall  radiate  the  promise 
of  salvation  for  the  world,  and  the  benediction  of  peace  for 
your  departure. 

III.  He  who  lives  for  God  can  depart  in  peace  at  any  time 
and  any  whither,  because  he  knows  that  the  time  appointed  of 
God  for  his  departure  is  the  best.  He  who  had  kept  the  ages 
waiting  for  his  promise,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  brought  his  Christ 
into  his  temple.  He  who  through  long  years  of  disappoint- 
ment kept  Simeon  waiting  in  prayer  and  faith  for  the  consola- 
tion of  Israel,  at  last  brought  salvation  to  his  eyes  that  he 
might  depart  in  peace.  God  knows  best  where  to  place  us,  how 
to  use  us,  when  to  take  us  away.  "  My  times  are  in  thy  hand; 
the  Lord  will  perfect  that  which  concerneth  me."  Wherever 
God  appoints  us  to  be,  he  has  work  for  us  to  do  ;  and  to  feel 
that  we  are  doing  God's  will  and  work  is  life,  is  peace,  is  joy. 
There  is  no  such  perfect  freedom  as  this  service  of  God  ;  no 
such  independence  as  that  of  depending  only  upon  him  ;  no 
such  imperturbable  peace  as  comes  of  inaugurating  his  will  over 
all  our  wishes,  works,  and  ways.  Under  his  lead  we  shall 
always  be  in  the  right  place,  shall  always  take  the  right  step, 
shall  always  do  the  right  thing.  So  long  as  God  has  any  work 
for  us  to  do  in  this  world,  ho  will  show  us  where  to  find  it,  and 
will  provide  the  means  for  doing  it  ;  and  when  he  has  no  longer 
any  work  for  us  here,  what  boundless  spheres  of  activity  will  be 
opened  to  the  faithful  servant,  without  the  cost  and  the 
incumbrance  of  "  this  earthly." 

The  changes  that  God  appoints  are  always  the  best  for  us  ;  ' 
and  knowing  this,  we  can  always  depart  in  peace.     It  is  natural 
that  we  should  wish  to  finish  our  work  to  our  own  mind.     But 
how  often  does  God  teach  us  that  to  quit  our  work  is  to  com- 
plete it!     How  often  does  death  in  the  household  quicken  sur- 


11 

vivors  into  life  !  how  often  does  the  going-away  of  a  pastor 
bring  forward  to  the  harvest  the  seed  for  whose  appearing  he  had 
waited  long  !  "  Another  reapeth  and  gathereth  fruit  unto  life 
eternal ;  but  both  he  that  soweth  and  he  that  reapeth  shall  in 
the  end  rejoice  together." 

IV.  He  who  lives  unto  God  can  depart  this  life  in  peace, 
for  he  knows  that  he  shall  enter  into  blessedness  ;  for  we  do 
know  that  "  If  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dis- 
solved, we  have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens  :  we  are  confident,  I  say,  and  willing  rather 
to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord." 
Yea,  sometimes  we  even  have  "a  desire  to  depart  and  be  with 
Christ,  which  is  far  better." 

How  many  such  departures  have  I  been  privileged  to  witness 
as  a  testimony  to  "  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God,"  to  the 
certainty  of  its  promised  peace  !  The  men  of  faith  who  founded 
this  church  and  nursed  its  infancy  ;  the  men  who,  in  later  years, 
ministered  to  its  material  and  spiritual  prosperity,  its  Sunday 
schools,  its  mission- work,  its  charities,  at  home  and  abroad — 
how  many  of  these  dear  brethren  have  I  seen  depart  in  the 
blessed  peace  of  Christ ! — and  of  godly  women  not  a  few.  Above 
this  visible  congregation,  I  feel  myself  surrounded  by  that  con- 
gregation of  the  blest,  whose  invisible  presence  fills  all  the  air 
with  peace.  You  know  that  wondrous  painting  of  the  Presen- 
tation in  the  Temple,  where  all  the  picture  is  in  shadow,  but  a 
glory  beaming  from  the  face  of  the  infant  Jesus  covers  Simeon 
with  light,  and  is  driving  the  darkness  away.  So  when  the  be- 
liever in  Christ,  loving,  trusting,  serving,  obeying,  is  summoned 
to  depart,  as  he  enters  the  gates  of  death,  he  seems  to  us  to  pass 
into  shadow — the  darkness  thickens  on  the  hither  side  ;  but 
this  is  only  the  setting  of  the  picture.  Before  him  is  light ;  his 
face  turned  heavenward  beams  with  the  glory  of  Christ  ;  no 
longer  the  radiant  infant  of  the  Temple,  yet  the  same  Jesus 
glorified,  enthroned  in  that  Jerusalem  where  "the  Lord  God 
Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the  Temple  of  it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the 
light  thereof."  0  Lord  Jesus,  as  I  lay  down  this  life-work  at  thy 
feet,  and  when  I  shall  lay  down  life  itself  at  thy  bidding,  grant 
me  that  vision  of  thy  face,  and  let  thy  servant  depart  in  peace. 


MINUTES  OF  AN  INFORMAL  MEETING 


HJcmbcrs  of  %  giroabtojun  Cabcntacle  Cjmrcb  autr  Society 


HELD   IN   THE   CHAPEI 


On  Monday  Evening,  October  23d,  1871. 


The  meeting  was  organized  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Marshall 
0.  Roberts,  Chairman.     Leonard  Hazeltine,  Jr.,  Secretary. 

Prayer  was  offered  by  Deacon  Henry  Whittelsey. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  receive  a  statement  from  Dr. 
Thompson  of  his  reasons  for  the  resignation  of  his  pastorate, 
which  he  had  announced  from  the  pulpit  on  the  preceding  Sab- 
bath morning. 

Dr.  Thompson  addressed  the  meeting,  giving  fully  the  reasons 
which  compelled  him  to  seek  relief  from  his  duties  as  pastor, 
and  read  the  following  letter  of  resignation,  which  he  requested 
should  be  presented  to  the  church  at  their  next  business  meeting 
in  November. 

"  To  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church  : 

Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  in  the  Lord — The  office  of 
pastor  in  this  church,  which  I  have  held  for  nearly  twenty- 
seven  years,  I  now  resign  into  your  hands  ;  and  I  request  you 
to  unite  with  me  in  calling  a  council  to  conclude  the  dissolution 
of  this  relation. 

Sudden  as  this  announcement  may  be  to  you,  with  me  this 
is  no  sudden   decision.     More   than  three  years  ago,  a  physical 


13 

infirmity,  induced  by  exposure  in  the  army,  and  in  its  nature 
beyond  remedy,  had  become  so  aggravated  and  so  complicated, 
that  the  highesl  medical  authority  ordered  me  to  withdraw  from 
the  pressure  of  public  responsibilities,  if  I  would  save  ray  life. 
1  should  then  have  done  so,  had  not  a  sense  of  honor,  in  view  of 
your  recent  indulgence  and  liberality  in  sending  me  abroad,  and 
certain  cherished  projects  for  the  welfare  of  the  church,  restrained 
me.  1  therefore  chose  to  endure  in  silence  what  it  could  not 
profit  any  one  to  know.  But  I  can  no  longer  hope  to  satisfy  my 
conscience  in  the  discharge  of  my  duties  as  a  pastor,  when  life 
is  a  constant  care  and  an  almost  constant  pain  ;  and  when 
symptoms  not  to  be  mistaken  threaten,  if  not  the  seat  of  life, 
what  to  me  is  more  serious,  the  seat  of  thought.  And  what  I 
i  I  cannot  do,  I  would  not  attempt  to  do  :  for  I  would  not 
become  a  drag  upon  the  church  which  God  once  appointed  me 
to  lead,  nor  a  pensioner  upon  its  bounty.  Having  worked  with 
you  in  the  energy  of  my  youth,  and  again  in  the  vigor  of  my 
prime,  to  free  this  church  from  debt,  I  could  not  endure  the 
thought  that  through  premature  infirmity  I  might  become  a 
burden  upon  its  treasury  in  my  advancing  years.  I  therefore 
retire  with  unquestioning  acquiescence  in  the  same  divine  call  by 
which  I  came. 

I  dare  not  trust  myself  to  speak  of  the  sundering  of  ties,  that, 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  have  bound  you  to  every 
thought  and  act  of  my  life.  My  whole  life  in  the  ministry  runs 
parallel  with  this  church.  At  the  very  time  when  you  were 
organized,  in  1840,  I  began  to  preach  in  New  Haven,  then  a 
youth  of  21.  Five  yens  later,  I  was  called  to  become  your  pas-  ' 
tor.  There  are  few  left  among  you  who  remember  with  what 
feeble  resources  and  against  what  social  and  sectarian  opposition 
you  had  entered  upon  the  experiment  of  establishing  in  New 
York  a  church  of  the  Congregational  order  ;  how  for  years  you 
worshiped  in  a  hired  house,  which  during  the  week  was  used  for 
the  most  miscellaneous  purposes  ;  and  how  dependent  you  were 
upon  the  penny  collection  at  every  service,  to  eke  out  your  scanty 
income. 

Of  personal  embarrassments  and  sacrifices  during  your  long 
struggle  with  poverty  and  debt,  I  have  no  desire  to  speak.    These, 


14 

which  are  a  billing  contribution  to  our  common  work,  are  all 
forgotten  in  the  joy  of  its  abounding  success.  But  that  joy  is 
heightened  by  the  remembrance,  that,  by  making  the  purchase  of 
the  Old  Tabernacle  by  the  Society  a  condition  of  accepting  your 
call,  and  afterwards  by  suggesting  a  plan  for  the  purchase  of  the 
Broadway  entrance  to  that  building,  it  was  my  good  fortune  to 
contribute  in  some  measure  toward  that  corporate  strength  which 
paved  the  way  to  your  present  material  prosperity.  And  you, 
who  began  your  existence  as  tenants  in  a  secular  building,  and 
to  whom  the  raising  of  twelve  thousand  dollars,  by  buying  pews, 
toward  the  purchase  of  the  Old  Tabernacle  was  a  great  strain 
of  faith  and  self-denial,  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  see  come  for- 
ward with  a  liberality  above  all  praise,  and  consecrate  this  house,, 
without  incumbrance,  to  the  service  of  the  Lord. 

Whenever  the  encroachments  of  business  and  the  increasing 
drain  of  removals  shall  compel  you  again  to  change  your  location,, 
you  will  be  able  to  command  any  position  that  shall  seem  best 
adapted  to  your  future  work.  But  you  may  safely  leave  that 
to  time  ;  for  the  large  and  earnest  congregations  on  Sabbath 
evenings,  and  the  hopeful  increase  of  the  stated  congregation  by 
the  addition  of  new  families,  and  the  return  of  former  members 
to  their  cherished  home,  show  that  your  work  is  not  yet  ended 
here.  And  the  love  and  confidence  with  which  you  have  sus- 
tained me  in  my  work  to  this  hour  assure  me,  that,  in  the  absence- 
of  a  pastor,  you  will  be  held  together  even  more  strongly  by  the 
great  interests  committed  to  your  trust.  As  you  have  upheld 
your  pastor  with  undivided  heart,  so  will  you  uphold  the  church 
with  undivided  hands. 

But  I  would  not  exalt  financial  prosperity  as  a  criterion  of  a 
successful  church.  While  I  have  shared  your  satisfaction  at 
every  step  in  this  direction,  your  spiri'tual  growth  has  ever  betn 
my  highest  aim  and  joy.  From  your  organization  with  67' 
persons  you  have  risen  to  an  average  membership  of  nearly  600. 
I  have  personally  welcomed  to  the  communion  of  this  church 
457  upon  the  first  confession  of  their  faith,  and  900  by  letter 
from  other  churches — a  total  of  1,357  additions  since  I  came 
among  you.  Upwards  of  1,700  persons  have  been  in  the  com- 
munion of  this  church  during  the  term  of  my  pastorate.     With 


15 

no  one  of  these  have  I  ever  had  a  word  of  personal  difference  ; 
nor  have  differences  upon  questions  of  policy  in  the  church  at 
any  time  ranged  themselves  about  the  pastor  as  a  party. 
Most  devoutly  do  I  bless  God  for  this  long  ministry  of  peace  ; 
and  most  heartily  do  I  thank  you  for  the  Christian  courtesy  and 
kindness  with  which  you  have  uniformly  treated  inc.  I  re- 
member also,  with  inexpressible  emotions,  the  sainted  dead  with 
whom  I  here  have  walked  in  such  loving  communion. 

As  a  pastor,  it  has  been  my  endeavor  to  keep  up  such  a  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  people  of  my  charge  as  would  enable  me 
to  sympathize  with  them  in  their  joys  and  their  sorrows.  With 
a  large  and  ever-changing  congregation  this  has  been  no  easy 
matter  ;  and  if  I  have  failed  to  meet  the  wishes  of  any  in  this 
respect,  they  may  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  I  have 
failed  to  meet  my  own;  and  also  that,  however  imperfectly  this 
duty  has  been  performed,  it  has  been  done  impartially  ;  that  to 
me  all  houses  have  been  alike,  and  every  person  has  had  a  claim 
equal  to  any  other. 

But  the  pulpit  has  ever  been  before  me  as  the  highest  sphere 
of  action  in  the  service  of  Christ,  and  the  central  point  of  influ- 
ence for  your  good.  Seldom  have  I  heard,  never  have  I  done, 
anything  that  could  approach  my  own  ideal  of  preaching  as  the 
unfolding  of  God  in  Christ — so  high,  so  deep>  so  broad,  so 
grand — for  the  edification  of  his  church  in  truth  and  holiness. 
When  I  think  how  many  words  have  been  uttered  from  this 
pulpit  in  all  these  years,  and  how  feeble  these  all  have  been  in 
the  comprehension  and  expression  of  the  "  glorious  gospel  of  the 
blessed  God,"  I  might  even  beg  to  be  relieved  of  a  responsibility 
so  overpowering  and  so  perilous.  This  only  will  I  say,  that, 
according  to  the  ability  that  God  has  given  me,  I  have  studied 
to  know  and  speak  his  truth. 

The  influence  of  this  church  upon  public  affairs,  and  for  the 
cause  of  Christ  throughout  our  land  and  in  other  lands,  it  is  im- 
possible to  compute  ;  yet,  whatever  service  the  universal  church 
has  required  of  one  in  my  position,  has  always  been  made  second- 
ary and  tributary  to  my  preparation  for  this  pulpit,  the  demands 
of  which  I  have  felt  to  be  so  high  and  so  noble. 

The  work  of  these  years,  with  all  its  imperfections,  I  commit 


16 

to  the  mercy  of  Him  who  knowetli  our  frame,  and  remembereth 
that  we  arc  dust. 

For  vou  who  have  so  kindly  regarded  me  as  your  teacher,  I 
have  only  loving  and  grateful  memories,  and  prayerful  wishes  of 
good.  As  your  spiritual  increase  has  been  my  constant  labor, 
so  in  my  retirement  will  it  be  my  constant  prayer  and  hope. 
May  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  give  to  my  successor  fruits 
of  his  ministry  among  you,  tenfold  greater  than  He  has  so  mer- 
cifully given  unto  me. 

In  leaving  you,  I  have  in  view  no  other  field  and  no  definite 
future.  The  same  cause  which  compels  my  resignation  debars 
me  from  all  manual  labor,  and  from  any  mode  of  life  requiring 
constant  mental  pressure  or  producing  mental  excitement.  I 
shall  hope  to  do  something  by  the  pen  for  the  illustration  and 
defense  of  the  word  of  God.  If  spared  for  such  a  work,  I  shall 
have  the  solace  and  the  joy  of  knowing  that  I  am  still  laboring 
in  the  cause  to  which  my  life  has  been  consecrated  ;  and  if  not 
permitted  even  this,  I  yet  shall  have  the  solace  and  the  joy  of 
having  consecrated  my  life  to  such  a  cause  in  the  service  of  such 
a  Master.  To  Him,  with  prayer  and  thanksgiving,  and  with 
unutterable  yearnings  of  affection,  I  now  commend  you,  dear 
brethren  and  sisters  in  Christ ;  and  unto  Him  be  glory  in  the 
Church  throughout  all  ages,  world  without  end.     Amen  ! 

Your  grateful  and  loving  Pastor, 

JOSEPH    P.    THOMPSON. 
New  York,  Oct,  '23,  1871." 


After  the  reading  of  the  letter,  the  pastor  withdrew.  Dr. 
Win.  M.  Chamberlain  and  Dr.  Win.  PI.  Thomson  followed 
with  short  addresses,  giving  their  professional  opinion  that  the 
immediate  retirement  of  Dr.  Thompson  from  the  pressure  of 
pastoral  cares  was  necessary  in  order  to  preserve  his  life  for  such 
forms  of  usefulness  as  he  might  still  be  capable  of  in  the  service 
of  the  Church. 

Mr.  John  Gray,  in  an  appropriate  and  feeling  manner,  re- 
ferred to  the  warmth  of  affection  which  for  nearly  27  vears  had 


17 

existed  between  pastor  and  people,  and  of  the  severe  loss  now 
sustained  by  the  Church  in  the  severing  of  these  pastoral  ties. 
He  presented  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  cordially 
seconded  by  Deacon  W.  H.  Smith,  and  unanimously  adopted : 

Whereas,  It  appears  from  the  paper  just  read  by  our  pastor,  that,  by  rea- 
son of  physical  disability,  he  is  unable  to  continue  his  pulpit  and  parochial 
labors,  therefore, 

/i\  solved,  That  we  sincerely  symphathize  with  Dr.  Thompson,  under  the 
trial  that  compels  him  to  retire  from  his  pastoral  labors  among  us  ;  and  we  rec- 
ommend that  the  Church  and  Society  immediately  take  measures  to  raise  the 
sum  of  not  less  than  thirty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  presented  to  him,  on  or 
before  the  27th  anniversary  of  his  installation  as  pastor  of  this  church — viz.,  the 
loth  day  of  April  next — as  a  testimonial  of  our  affectionate  regard. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  carry  into  effect  the  fore- 
going resolution,  and  to  bring  the  matter  before  the  Society  at  the  next  annual 
meeting  in  November,  for  such  action  as  may  be  necessary  to  complete  the  sum 
proposed  to  be  raised. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  elected  as  such  committee : 
Caleb  B.  Knevals,  Levi  M.  Bates,  Marshall  0.  Roberts,  Wm. 
Henry  Smith,  and  John  Gray. 

It  was  proposed  by  Deacon  Smith,  that,  in  addition  to  this 
corporate  provision,  a  voluntary  subscription  be  taken  at  once, 
as  a  testimonial  of  love  and  affection  to  our  retiring  pastor, 
which  was  ably  seconded  by  Brother  Thos.  S.  Berry,  and  unani- 
mously carried  ;  and  the  sum  of  $20,925  was  at  once  subscribed. 

As  several  members  of  the  church  and  society  were  not  present, 
the  committee  of  five  were  requested  to  advise  such  of  the  action 
of  the  meeting,  and  give  them  an  opportunity  to  subscribe  to 
the  fund. 

On  motion  adjourned. 

MARSHALL  0.  ROBERTS,  Chairman. 
LEONARD  HAZELTINE,  Jr.,  Secretary. 


THE 

PASTOR'S    ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

OF   THE 

TESTIMONIAL  OF  THE  CONGREGATION, 

Read  from  the  Pulpit  on  Sabbath  Morning,  October  29£/t. 


"  I  will  pay  my  vows  unto  the  Lord  now  in  the  presence  of  all 
his  people  ;  in  the  courts  of  the  Lord's  house,  in  the  midst  of 
thee,  0  Jerusalem."  For  I  feel  it  to  be  a  religious  duty,  as  well 
as  a  personal  privilege,  here,  upon  the  Lord's  Day  and  in  the 
Lord's  house,  and  as  in  the  face  of  all  the  world,  with  devout 
thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God,  and  with  overwhelming  gratitude 
to  you  my  People,  to  testify  of  the  munificence — the  mag- 
nificence— of  the  provision  which  you  have  made  for  my  support 
and  comfort  to  the  end  of  my  days.  What  am  I  ?  or  what  is 
my  work,  that  you  should  love  and  cherish  me  after  this  sort  ? 
I  receive  your  bounty  with  a  humility  as  deep  as  the  gratitude 
with  which  I  acknowledge  it. 

I  cannot  appropriate  it  to  myself  as  a  personal  favor,  though 
your  generosity  has  been  pleased  to  convey  it  under  that  form. 
Not  anything  in  me,  but  that  which  is  in  you,  is  honored  and 
illustrated  by  this  gift  ; — your  loving  consideration  for  the  office 
of  pastor  in  the  Church  of  Christ  ;  your  generous  appreciation 
of  the  ministry  which  Christ  hath  ordained;  your  loyal  conse- 
cration to  Christ  himself  as  the  Head  of  the  Church; — these 


19 

are  the  sentiments  which  have  found  expression  in  a  gift  beyond 
precedent  at  once  in  its  nobleness  and  in  its  tenderness.     Not 
because  I  have  lived  among  you  for  almost  a  generation,  but 
because  I  have  been  your  pastor  ;  not  that  I  may  live  without 
temporal  anxiety  in  the  future,  but  that  I  may  be  enabled  to 
devote  such  strength  as   God  shall  preserve  to  me  unto  His 
-lory— fur  these  highest,  best  of  Christian  motives,  it  is  that 
you  have  so  honored  yourselves  in  honoring  your  now  disabled 
and  retiring  servant,    Already  has  the  report  of  your  action  been 
read  in  all  the  churches  of  the  land,  showing  that  you  estimate 
the  office  of  pastor  by  a  wealth  of  affection  that,  figures  cannot 
express,  by  a  sentiment  of  honor  that  years  cannot  exhaust ;  it 
has  been  read   in  all  the  colleges  and  seminaries  of  the  land, 
teaching  young  men  that  the  love  and  esteem  of  the  church  will 
more  than  compensate  for  whatever  worldly  prospects  they  may 
renounce  in  devoting  themselves  to  the  ministry  ;  it  has  been 
read  in  all  business  circles,  reminding  the  world  of  the  dignity 
and  grace  of  Christian  liberality  ;  it  has  gone  beyond  the  sea,  to 
furnish  a  new  argument  to  those  who  are  there  contending  that 
the  voluntary  affection  of  a  Christian  brotherhood  is  stronger 
and  richer  than  the  endowments  of  a  State-Establishment.     I 
bless  God  in  you,  fur  you,  through  you  ;  and  I  see  in  this  your 
unanimous  and  spontaneous  generosity  toward  your  pastor,  the 
pledge  of  your  unanimity  and  heartiness  of  purpose  in  your 
future  work. 

Personally,  I  am  greatly  comforted  that  the  secret  trial  which 
I  had  so  long  borne  is  at  last  shared  by  you,  and  is  relieved  by 
a  love  so  sympathizing,  so  considerate,  so  abounding.  It  was  no 
small  part  of  the  burden  that,  for  your  sakes,  I  felt  bound  to 
carry  it  alone.  When  one  is  called  to  contemplate  the  uprooting 
of  ins  whole  life,  the  sundering  of  the  fondest  ties,  the  imperil- 
ing of  most  cherished  interests,  affections,  hopes,  he  must  needs 
prepare  himself  for  such  an  act  by  solitary  communing  with  God. 
Whatever  his  secret  griefs,  before  the  world  he  ought  to  show  a 
Christian  faith  and  cheerfulness— enameled,  it  may  be,  by 
passing  through  hidden  tires.  Under  such  a  visitation,  no 
one  can  advise,  no  one  can  help  him.  He  must  make  up  his 
mmd  to  accept  and  to  do  the  will  of  the  Father. 


20 

It  was  a  great  trial  to  me  to  feel  that  I  must  not  reveal  my 
purpose  to  my  brethren  until  the  moment  for  action  had  come. 
Had  I  done  so,  the  air  would  have  been  filled  with  rumors  and 
surmises,  and  I  should  have  been  overwhelmed  with  personal 
inquiries  and  discussions.  Better  far  was  the  counsel  of  the 
Psalmist,  "  Commune  with  your  own  heart  upon  your  bed,  and 
be  still."  But  when  the  judgment  of  physicians  peremptorily 
confirmed  my  own  forebodings,  I  threw  myself  upon  the  confi- 
dence and  magnanimity  of  a  people  among  whom  I  never  have 
discriminated,  and  never  could  discriminate,  in  my  relation  as 
pastor  of  each  and  all  alike  ;  and  the  rallying  of  your  affectionate 
sympathy  under  this  impartial  trust  is  the  expression  and  the 
pledge  of  your  deep,  hearty,  and  abiding  unity  in  the  work  of 
Christ. 

And  now,  dear  brethren  and  friends,  I  have  to  force  down 
my  heart  by  power  of  will,  lest,  in  attempting  to  tell  you 
how  I  thank  you  and  how  I  love  you,  T  should  appear  too  weak 
before  you.  Henceforth,  whatever  work  I  do,  whatever  comfort 
I  have,  whatever  memory  I  cherish,  whatever  joy  I  feel,  will  be 
indissolubly  linked  to  you.  My  very  life,  for  Christ's  work, 
will  be  your  gift.  And  if,  for  the  illustration  of  God's  providence 
and  word,  I  shall  go  down  into  Egypt,  it  will  be  because  my 
brethren  have  lifted  me  out  of  the  pit,  and  put  me  in  bonds  and 
sent  me  there  ;  but  these  will  be  bonds  of  love  and  of  gratitude 
that  shall  hold  me  to  you  while  life  shall  last,  and  shall  draw 
me  to  you  as  my  home-circle  in  the  Father's  house. 

May  God  supply  all  your  need,  according  to  his  riches  in  glory, 
by  Christ  Jesus  ;  and  unto  God  and  our  Father  be  glory  for 
ever.     Amen." 


MEETING   OF   THE   CHURCH. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church  held  on 
Wednesday  evening,  Nov.  1st,  1871,  the  communication  of  the 
pastor,  Rev.  Joseph  P.  Thompson,  D.D.,  resigning  his  office  was 
read,*  together  with  the  minutes  of  the  informal  meeting  of  the 
Church  and  Society  held  on  the  23d  of  October. 

And  the  following  resolutions  were  passed,  after  appropriate, 
eloquent,  and  heartfelt  remarks  from  many  of  the  members: 

Whereas,  Our  pastor,  Rev.  Joseph  P.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  has  by  his  com- 
munication dated  October  23d,  1871,  resigned  his  office  as  pastor,  and  requested 
us  to  unite  with  him  in  calling  a  Council  to  conclude  the  dissolution  of  the 
]  astoral  relation  : — 

Resolved,  That  with  deep  regret  we  recognize  the  imperative  nature  of  the 
reasons  which  have  led  to  this  step,  and  that  we  hereby  accept  the  resignation, 
and  will  unite  with  him  in  calling  a  Council  as  requested. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  act  with  him  in  calling 
the  Council. 

Resolved,  That  with  affectionate  gratitude  to  him,  and  with  reverent  thanks- 
giving to  Almighty  God,  we  recognize  the  eminent  usefulness  of  Dr.  Thompson's 
labors  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  for  the  growth,  prosperity,  and 
spiritual  life  of  this  Church  and  Society,  for  the  advancement  of  sound  learning 
and  Christian  morality  in  the  community,  for  the  cause  of  liberty  and  free 
government  in  the  nation,  and  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  throughout  the 
world ;  while  he  has  been  to  vis  an  able  and  earnest  minister  of  the  Word,  an 
affectionate  and  faithful  pastor,  and  a  kind  and  constant  friend.  And  we  pray 
that  his  health  may  soon  be  restored  by  repose,  and  that  he  and  his  beloved 
household  may  ever  enjoy  the  richest  blessings  of  Divine  favor. 

*  See  page  12. 


22 

The   following   members    of  the  Church  were  constituted  a 
committee  in  accordance  with  the  foregoing  resolutions  : 
Austin    Abbott,  Henry   Whittelsey, 

Caleb  B.  Knevals,  T.  S.  Berry, 

Leonard  Hazeltine,  Jr. 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  Church  issued  the  following 

LETTER  MISSIVE. 

New  York,  Nov.  2d,  1871. 

The  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church  to  the Church  sendeth  greeting. 

Dear  Brethren: 

Whereas,  By  reason  of  failing  health,  Rev.  Joseph  P.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  has 
resigned  the  office  of  pastor  in  this  Church,  and  the  Church  has  accepted  his 
resignation,  we  therefore  affectionately  invite  your  attendance,  by. your  pastor 
and  a  delegate,  at  a  Council  for  the  purpose  of  dissolving  this  relation.  The 
Council  will  meet  in  the  chapel  of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church,  on 
Wednesday,  November  8th,  at  2  P.  M. 

Wishing  you  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  we  are  your  brethren  in  Christ, 

Austin  Abbott,  "] 

Henry  Whittelsey, 

Caleb  B.  Knevals,  y  Committee  of  the  Church. 

Thomas   S.  Berry. 

Leonard  Hazeltine,  Jr.,  J 

I  cordially  concur  in  the  above  invitation, 

Joseph  P.  Thompson,  Pastor. 


MINUTES   OF   THE   COUNCIL 


CALLED  OX  O:  CASION"   OF   THE 


DESIGNATION  OF  REV.  J.  P.  THOMPSON,  D.  D. 


In  accordance  with  Letters  Missive  from  the  Broadway 
Tabernacle  church,  New  York,  an  Ecclesiastical  Council  con- 
vened in  the  chapel  of  that  church  on  Wednesday,  November 
8th,  1871,  at  2  o'clock  P.  M. 

There  were  present  as  members  of  the  Council,  from  the  New 
England  Cong.  Church,  Rev.  Merrill  Richardson,  D.  D.,  Pastor  ; 
Dr.  H.  C.  Houghton,  Delegate.  Harlem  Cong.  Church,  Dea. 
Geo.  H.  White,  Del.  Church  of  the  Pilgrims,  Brooklyn,  Dea. 
Pi.  P.  Buck,  Del.  Clinton-Avenue  Cong.  Church,  Rev.  W.  I. 
Budington,  1).  D.,  Pastor;  Dea.  W.W.  Fessenden,  Del.  Plym- 
outh Church,  Brooklyn,  Bro.  W.  E.  Caldwell,  Del.  Central 
Cong.  Church,  Brooklyn,  Dea.  W.  C.  Hickok,  Del.  Central 
Cong.  Church,  Philadelphia  ;  Bro.  J.  B.  Shepard,  Del.  First 
Cong.  Church,  Orange  Valley,  N.  J.,  Rev.  G.  B.  Bacon, 
Pastor.  First  Church,  New  Haven,  Ct.,  Rev.  Geo.  L.  Walker, 
D.  D.,  Pastor  ;  Bro.  Eli  Whitney,  Del.  First  Cong.  Church, 
Newark,  N.  J.,  Rev.  W.  B.  Brown,  D.  D.,  Pastor.  First  Cong. 
Church,  Jersey  City,  Rev.  G.  Buckingham  Willcox,  Pastor  ; 
also,  Rev.  Drs.  Leonard  Bacon,  Joshua  Leavitt,  Ray  Palmer, 
Benjamin  N.  Martin,  and  Rev.  E.  W.  Gilman. 

The  Council  was  organized  by  the  election  of  Rev.  Dr.  Bacon 
as  moderator,  and  Rev.  G.  Buckingham  Willcox  as  scribe. 

Prayer  was  offered  by  the  moderator. 


24 

The  resignation  by  Rev.  Dr.  Thompson  of  his  pastorate  over 
the  Broadway  Tabernacle  church,  with  the  action  of  the  church 
accepting  the  same,  was  read  by  Bro.  Austin  Abbott. 

Dr.  Thompson  offered  remarks  setting  forth  more  fully  the 
failure  of  health  which  had  necessitated  his  resignation. 

On  motion,  it  was  voted  that  the  Council  is  satisfied  of  the 
propriety  of  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Thompson,  and  of  the  accept- 
ance thereof  by  the  church  ;  and  that  we  advise  that  such  resig- 
nation take  effect  on  the  15th  of  November,  1871. 

A  committee  was  appointed,  consisting  of  Rev.  Drs.  Bacon, 
Budington,  and  Leavitt,  and  Bro.  R.  P.  Buck,  who  reported  as 
follows  : 

The  Council,  in  coming  to  this  result,  desire  to  express,  first, 
their  recognition  of  God's  will,  in  the  painful  affliction  which 
brings  to  a  close  a  ministry  so  useful,  not  only  to  this  church, 
but  in  wider  relations. 

In  behalf  of  the  churches  of  Christ,  we  offer  to  this  church 
the  assurance  of  our  sympathy  with  them  in  their  bereavement, 
and  of  our  appreciation  of  the  unexampled  munificence  with 
which  the  members  of  the  church  and  society  have  testified  their 
grateful  affection  toward  their  pastor. 

We  recognize,  with  thankfulness  to  the  Great  Head  of  the 
Church,  the  singular  union  that  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a. 
century  has  subsisted  between  pastor  and  people,  and  believe 
that  such  an  example  will  tend  to  promote  the  honor  and  effi- 
ciency of  our  churches. 

With  profound  respect,  and  with  tender  sentiments  of  fra- 
ternal love,  we  commend  the  retiring  pastor  to  the  churches  of 
Christ  everywhere,  as  a  brother  faithful  and  beloved,  "who  has; 
good  report  of  all  men,  and  of  the  truth  itself." 

The  Council  cherish  the  strong  hope,  that  Dr.  Thompson,, 
released  from  pastoral  cares  and  duties,  will  find  himself  able,  in 
the  good  providence  of  God,  to  prosecute  those  studies,  in  Biblical 
antiquities,  and  especially  in  Egyptology,  in  which  he  has  al- 
ready so  honorably  distinguished  himself ;  and  which,  in  the  pres- 
ent state  of  Biblical  science,  are  so  much  needed  for  the  defense 
of  the  faith  of  Christ's  Church. 


•2.") 

On  motion,  this  report  was  accepted  and  adopted  as  the 
result  of  Council. 

Expressions  of  personal  regard  and  affection  were  offered  by 
Eev.  Drs.  Budington,  Palmer,  Leavitt,  Martin,  and  by  the 
moderator,  followed  by  He  v.  Dr.  Edward  Beecher. 

By  vote  of  the  Council,  Dr.  Thompson,  having  previously 
retired,  was  invited  to  listen  to  the  foregoing  result. 

And  after  remarks  responsive  by  Dr.  Thompson,  the  Council 
adjourned  without  day. 

G.  BUCKINGHAM   WILLCOX,  Scribe. 


ACTION 


NEW  YORK  AND  BROOKLYN  ASSOCIATION. 


Resolutions  adopted  unanimously  by  the  New  York  and 
Brooklyn  Association,  in  conference  with  Bedford  Congregational 
Church,  Nov.  1st,  1871,  on  motion  of  Rev.  Wm.  Ives  Budington, 
D.  D. : 

Whereas,  The  Rev.  J.  P.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  has  resigned  hispastoral office  in 
the  Tabernacle  church  of  New  York,  the  Association  of  New  York  and  Brook- 
lyn meeting  in  conference  with  the  Bedford  Congregational  Church,  cannot 
allow  this  event  to  take  place  without  expressing  their  deep  regret  that  his 
health  has  made  this  step  necessary,  and  their  personal  and  general  sense  of 
the  loss  which  our  churches  sustain  by  his  departure  from  us  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  this  Association  acknowledges  with  grateful  recognition  his 
loner-continued  and  valuable  services  in  the  support  and  vindication  of  our 
Congregational  Christianity  in  the  days  of  its  weakness  and  infancy  here,  and 
attributes  much  of  its  present  extension  and  influence  to  his  indefatigable 
labors  in  its  behalf. 

Resolved,  secondly,  That  in  the  conscientious  studies  which  have  enlarged 
our  Christian  literature,  in  the  particular  labor  which  contributed  to  the 
support  of  our  nation's  life  in  its  great  conflict,  and- in  the  earnest  discussions 
which  vindicated  the  cause  of  Freedom  against  Slavery  in  the  past,  Dr. 
Thompson  bears  among  us  a  record  and  a  remembrance  honorable  both  to  him 
*md  the  cause  of  our  Lord. 

Resolved,  thirdly,  That,  cherishing  the  most  greateful  recollections  of  Dr. 
Thompson's  past  connection  with  this  Association,  in  which  he  has  been  a  most 
efficient  and  fraternal  member  until  compelled  to  resign  his  place  by  reason  of 
failing  health,  we  shall  follow  him  to  any  future  labors  to  which  he  may  devote 
himself  with  heartfelt  interest  and  earnest  prayers  for  his  usefulness  and 
happiness. 

Resolved,  fourthly,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  signed  by  the  moder- 
ator and  secretary,  be  sent  to  Dr.  Thompson. 

S.  S.    JOCELYN,  Moderator. 
M.  L.  WILLISTON,  Secretary. 


MEETING  OF  THE  CONFERENCE. 


At  the  meeting  of  the  Conference  of  Congregational  Churches 
of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  vicinity,  held  at  the  First  Congrega- 
tional Church,  Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  Nov.  9th,  ]  871,  Rev.  G.  B.  Ba- 
con, Deacon  S.  Holmes,  Rev.  M.  E.  Strieby,  and  Dr.  C.  S.  Mann, 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a  minute  concerning  the 
retirement  of  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  P.  Thompson  from  his  pastoral 
office,  the  same  to  be  entered  upon  the  records  of  the  Conference. 
That  the  committee  subsequently  made  the  following  report, 
which  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Conference. 

This  Conference,  representing  the  Congregational  churches  of 
New  York  and  Brooklyn  and  vicinity,  desires  to  put  upon  its 
record  the  following  minute  : — 

We  have  heard  with  sorrowful  surprise  and  interest,  through 
the  public  press,  and  again  to-day,  with  deep  emotion,  from  his 
own  lips,  the  announcement  of  the  disabilities  which  remove 
from  active  service  in  the  pastoral  office,  and  from  participation 
in  these  familiar  duties  and  privileges  of  Christian  fellowship, 
our  brother,  long  beloved  and  honored  as  a  faithful  minister  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  as  a  fellow-servant  in  these  churches,  the 
Rev.  Joseph  P.  Thompson. 

We  make  no  attempt  to  recite,  in  this  brief  minute,  the  many 
and  great  public  services  of  Dr.  Thompson  in  his  ministry  of 
more  than  thirty  years  ;  nor  to  commemorate  the  conspicuous 
fidelity  with  which,  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he 
has  filled  the  responsible  pastorate  of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle 
Church  in  New  York  city.     These  things  are  matters  of  history. 


28 

widely  known  and  commended,  and  they  have  received  most  fit 
and  faithful  witness  in  the  generous  action  by  which  his  church 
and  people  have  expressed  their  love  and  sympathy  for  him, 
and  made  provision  for  his  remaining  years. 

But  the  influence  and  usefulness  of  Dr.  Thompson  have  not 
been  limited  by  the  duties  of  his  pastorate.  Through  the  public 
press  and  in  public  assemblies,  by  voice  and  pen,  the  churches 
of  our  faith  and  order  have  felt  and  recognized  his  leadership. 
The  nation,  in  its  hour  of  extremest  peril,  the  Christian  soldiers 
who  went  forth  from  our  homes  and  from  our  sanctuaries  to  the 
fatigues  and  perils  of  the  conflict,  have  abundant  reason  to 
remember,  and  do  gratefully  recall,  his  words  of  cheer  and 
courage,  his  unfailing  sympathy  and  help,  his  personal  ministry 
among  the  sick  and  wounded, — and  that  yet  greater  gift  which 
God  required  of  him — in  the  bearing  of  that  common  burden  in 
that  dark  and  awful  hour.  The  Christian  world  has  been  his 
debtor  for  the  learning  and  labor  which  he  has  brought  to  the 
interpretation  and  illustration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  to 
the  practical  enforcement  of  the  truth  of  God. 

But  we  in  these  churches  and  in  this  Conference  make  mention 
especially  of  the  loss  which  we  are  suffering  by  his  removal  from 
our  councils,  and  from  personal  participation  in  our  fellowship. 
For  these  many  years,  we  have  been  used  to  look  to  him  as  not 
only  the  Bishop  of  our  Metropolitan  Church,  but  as  also,  and, 
therefore,  by  right  of  position,  and  by  right  of  his  singular  gifts 
and  abilities,  our  chief  counselor  in  matters  concerning  the  wel- 
fare of  the  churches.  During  these  years  in  which  the  church, 
under  his  pastorate,  has  grown  to  be  mater  et  caput  ecclesia- 
rum  (mother  and  head  of  churches)  in  this  metropolitan  region, 
no  face  has  been  more  familiar  in  our  meetings  than  his.  We 
have  found  in  him  a  strong  and  able  leader,  a  wise  and  faithful 
counselor,  a  generous  and  sympathizing  friend.  We  testify  our 
sense  of  the  debt  which  we  owe  him  for  his  fidelity  to  the  great 
fact  and  principle  so  vital  to  our  polity,  so  essential  to  our  con- 
gregational order — the  fellowship  of  the  churches. 

And  now  that,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to  which  we  bow 
with  sorrowing  resignation,  he  is  taken  from  us  for  a  season,  and 
disabled  for  the  duties  which  he  has  so  long,  and  with  such 


29 

conspicuous  fidelity  fulfilled,  we  express  to  him  our  loving  sym- 
pathy, our  deep  and  prayerful  wish  for  his  increasing  peace. 
Into  such  labors  as  the  providence  of  G-od  may  yet  make  possi- 
ble for  him,  we  follow  him  with  confidence  and  hope  ;  and  we 
pray  that  in  infirmities,  in  absence,  in  solitude,  the  knowledge 
of  the  grateful  love  and  reverence  of  us,  his  <  n  in  Christ, 

may  be  to  him  a  strength  and  solace,  and  that  the  presence  of 
the  Lord,  whom  he  has  loved  and  served,  may  be  his  constant 
joy  and  everlasting  reward. 

Attest  : 

Wm.  Ives  Budington,  Moderator. 
H.  H.  McFarland,  Secretary. 

Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  Nov.  9th,  1871. 


THE 


BROADWAY  TABERNACLE  CHURCH: 

%  Historical  giscourse, 

Preached  Nov.  nth,  1871, 

By    JOSEPH    P.    THOMPSON. 


Events,  not  years,  make  history.  Ideas  evolved  or  wrought 
into  action,  discoveries  and  inventions  made,  principles  and  in- 
stitutions established,  deeds  accomplished,  results  achieved — 
these  are  the  woof  that  History  weaves  into  the  ever-winding 
threads  of  Time, — now  packing  it  with  all  figures  and  colors 
within  the  short  space  of  years,  and  again  scattering  the  pat- 
terns, with  hardly  a  perceptible  order  or  relation,  along  the  line 
of  centuries.  Ours  is  a  period  when  the  shuttle  flies  swiftly, 
when  the  figures  are  bold,  and  the  colors  massed  and  strong. 
History  is  made  almost  faster  than  we  can  read  it.  Events  are 
crowded  together,  and  rolled  up  to  make  room  for  others 
that  at  once  distract  our  attention  ;  the  retina  becomes  a 
kaleidoscope  of  forms  and  colors,  the  memory  a  jumble  of  inci- 
dents. To  gain  the  impression  of  history,  the  effect  of  relation, 
continuity,  progress,  we  must  pause  now  and  then,  unwind  the 
cylinder,  and  study  the  ideas,  events,  principles^  movements, 
which  have  made  their  mark.  This  church,  though  it  has 
not  quite  rounded  up  the  years  of  a  generation,  has  already 
a  history  of  its  own  ;    and  has  shared  in  some  of  the  leading, 


31 

movements  and  events,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  that  will  make 
forever  memorable  the  history  of  these  recent  times.  If 
therefore,  I  would  recall  to  you  the  principles  of  church 
order,  the  movements  of  reform,  the  enterprises  of  benevo- 
lence, the  measures  of  patriotism,  of  humanity,  and  of  prog- 
ress, with  which  this  church  has  been  identified,  it  is  that  in 
this  parting-  hour  we  may  together  honor  God  for  the  work  to 
which  he  has  called  us  ;  may  confirm  our  own  faith  and  love  and 
joy  as  co-workers  with  God  in  such  a  field  at  such  a  time  ;  may 
garner  memories  and  hopes  that  shall  cement  our  spiritual  and 
eternal  union,  after  the  dissolution  of  official,  and  even  of  all 
earthly  ties  ;  and  may  proclaim  to  those  who  shall  come  after 
us,  the  spirit,  the  principles,  and  the  privileges  to  which  they 
are  pledged  by  such  a  history.  I  marvel  that,  in  the  prime  of 
life,  I  find  myself  in  a  position  to  speak  from  memory  of  so 
many  and  important  movements  and  events  ;  that  thirty-one 
years  in  the  ministry — nearly  twenty-seven  of  them  in  this 
church — have  made  me  a  witness  of  so  many  things  worth  tell- 
ing of,  as  if  they  were  already  old  or  forgotten.  I  am  startled 
at  the  rapidity  of  local  changes,  when  I  remember  that  of  the 
363  persons  who  composed  this  church  at  the  time  of  my  settle- 
ment, only  21  now  have  their  names  upon  its  roll  and  there 
remain  to-day  in  its  active  membership  but  8  brethren  who 
were  here  when  I  was  installed.  Of  the  Congregational  com- 
munion in  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  vicinity,  this  is  the  mother 
church,  and  I  am  the  senior  pastor  ;  and  among  all  the  churches 
of  every  communion  in  the  city  of  New  York,  there  remain  in 
the  full  discharge  of  the  pastoral  office  only  eight*  ministers 
who  were  here  when  I  came  to  this  church.  This  whirl  of 
change  causes  one  to  seem  to  die  before  his  time.  Yet  this  is 
not  a  thought  of  sadness,  but  of  confidence  ;  for  it  reminds  us 
that  the  true  life  is  in  institutions,  not  in  individuals  ■  that  in 
the  body  of  Christ,  as  in  the  human  body,  there  is  a  constant 
flux  of  particles  ;  men  are  but  molecules,  and  the  indwelling 
spirit  of  God  appropriates  to  this  living  body  new  elements  and 

*  Rev.  Drs.  Adams  and  Burchard,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  Rev.  Dr. 
Hutton,  of  the  Reformed ;  Rev.  Dr.  Bellows,  of  the  Unitarian  ;  '  Rev.  Drs^ 
Haight,  Price,  Tyng,  and  Verren,  of  the  Episcopal. 


32 

powers,  and  fills  it  with  new  inspirations  and  activities,  so  that 
it  groweth  more  and  more. 

What  this  church  has  been  and  has  accomplished,  what  this 
church  shall  be  and  shall  do  in  the  future,  is  not  primarily  a 
question  of  men  in  its  offices  or  in  its  constituency  ;  but  is 
answered  by  the  measure  in  which  it  is  a  spiritual  body  vitalized 
by  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  And  the  evidences  of  this  in  its  past 
history  may  serve  as  a  ground  of  encouragement  and  hope,  and 
also  as  a  rule  of  guidance,  for  its  future  work. 

I.  This  church  has  illustrated  the  capacity  of  the  local  church 
for  self-government,  with  unity,  wisdom,  and  efficiency.  It  had 
its  origin  in  the  assertion  of  that  principle  which  we  regard  as 
the  fundamental  law  of  the  New  Testament  touching  the  church 
as  a  visible  organization  ; — that  a  church  properly  consists  of 
persons  spiritually  renewed  through  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  ;  that  these  believers,  in  virtue  of  their  personal  union 
with  Christ,  have  equal  privileges  in  His  kingdom  ;  that,  being 
associated  under  a  covenant  for  the  worship  and  the  service  of 
God  according  to  His  holy  word,  they  constitute  a  church,  com- 
plete in  itself,  competent  to  choose  its  own  officers,  to  observe 
the  sacraments  of  the  gospel,  to  administer  discipline,  to  plan 
and  carry  forward  all  manner  of  Christian  work.  "  Every  such 
church  is  independent  of  any  outward  jurisdiction  or  control, 
whether  from  popes,  patriarchs,  archbishops,  bishops,  or  other 
persons  assuming  to  be  Christ's  officials  ;  from  general  conven- 
tions, conferences,  or  assemblies  ;  from  synods  and  presbyteries  ; 
and  from  associations,  councils,  or  other  courts  or  convocations  ; 
or  from  other  churches  ;  being  answerable  directly  and  only  to 
Christ,  its  head."0  It  is  this  autonomy  of  the  local  church 
which  distinguishes  this  church,  as  to  the  form  of  its  interior 
administration,  from,  other  communions  of  Christians  with  which 
in  doctrine,  spirit,  and  work  it  is  in  vital  accord.  At  the  time 
of  its  organization,  certain  local  circumstances,  and  the  general 
condition  and  tendency  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  in  this  community, 
seemed  to  call  for  a  renewed  assertion  of  the  privileges  and 
functions  of  the   Christian   brotherhood.     And   now   that  the 

*  For  a  clear  and  forcible  statement  of  the  New-Testament  doctrine  concern- 
ing the  church,  see  "  Congregationalism,"  by  Rev.  H.  M.  Dexter,  D.  D. 


33 

controversies  and  jealousies  of  those  early  days,  which  should 
never  have  been,  have  passed  away,  I  think  it  will  be  admitted 
that  this  church  has  set  a  good  example  in  minding  its  own 
affairs  ;  that  it  has  never  agitated  the  Christian  public  with 
disputes  about  its  doctrine,  its  discipline,  its  order,  or  its  worship ; 
but  has  shown  that  one  way  of  maintaining  the  unity  and  peace 
of  Christ's  Church — and  a  very  simple  and  good  way — is  to  let 
every  church  have  its  own  way. 

It  is  one  thing  to  assert  a  principle  and  another  to  illustrate 
it  ;  and  principles  in  practice  are  weightier  for  than  professions 
upon  paper.  To  proclaim  the  equality  of  the  brotherhood,  to 
contend  for  the  independence  of  the  Church,  were  nothing  with- 
out the  illustration  of  such  equality  and  independence  in 
preserving  its  harmony  and  promoting  efficiency.  I  am  happy 
to  testify,  from  the  experience  of  almost  twenty  seven  years,  that 
this  church,  though  no  freer  than  other  churches  from  those 
human  elements  which  are  insoluble  except  by  the  grace  of  Grod, 
has  worked  with  a  measure  of  unanimity,  of  wisdom,  and  of  de- 
votion as  high  at  least  as  is  attained  under  any  more  stringent 
form  of  ecclesiastical  organization.  Liberty  of  discussion  has  con- 
duced to  harmony  of  action  ;  and  fredom  of  action  has  favored 
unity  of  purpose,  and  given  force  to  combination. 

In  its  beginning,  this  church  received  the  impress  of  intellec- 
tual freedom  and  of  spiritual  fervor  from  two  men  who  were  each 
in  their  way  among  the  most  remarkable  men  that  I  have  ever 
known.  David  Hale  would  have  gone  to  the  stake  for  the  right 
to  speak ;  Samuel  Pitts  would  have  transformed  the  fires  of 
martyrdom  into  a  seraphic  column  of  prayer.  When  a  question 
came  up  in  the  Church,  Hale  would  talk  it  out,  and  Pitts  would 
pray  it  out  ;  and  if  it  provoked  controversy  and  threatened 
division,  Pitts  with  an  irresistible  fervor  of  devotion  would  pray 
it  down,  and  Hale  with  a  magnanimity  of  concession  that  marked 
his  real  strength  would  give  it  up  !  These  twin  spirits  shaped 
our  history.  Of  course,  there  have  been  differences,  sometimes 
of  policy,  sometimes  personal,  and  even  partisan  ;  but  these  have 
always  been  adjusted  with  little  friction  and  without  disruption. 
The  principle  of  the  equal  and  independent  administration  of 
affairs  by  the  brotherhood  has  been  tested  bv  everv  experienc  e 

3 


34 

possible  to  a  Christian  Church  : — by  the  sudden  death  of  men 
designated  by  nature  and  by  grace  to  be  pillars  ;  by  cases  of 
discipline  that  appealed  strongly  to  the  feelings  ;  by  proposed 
changes  in  the  articles  of  faith,  and  in  the  details  of  worship  : 
by  a  change  of  location,  and  the  intermediate  state  of  migra- 
tion from  the  old  house  to  the  new  ;  by  the  burden  of  debt,  and 
by  the  pride  of  prosperity  ;  and  through  all  these  experiences,, 
the  unanimity,  the  practical  wisdom,  and  the  co-operative 
efficiency  of  the  Brotherhood  have  justified  the  principle  of  self- 
government.  How  nobly,  how  unitedly,  how  tenderly,  how 
lovingly  this  church  has  borne  itself,  in  view  of  the  sundering  of 
the  pastoral  tie  that  to  night  must  be  severed  forever,  I  am 
only  too  proud  and  thankful  that  all  the  world  should  know  ! 

II.  Equally  important  has  been  the  work  of  this  church  in 
furthering  the  communion  of  churches  of  its  own  order — espe- 
cially between  New  England  and  the  West — and  in  developing 
the  vital  coherence  of  the  Congregational  body  throughout  the 
land.  The  independence  of  the  local  church  in  matters  of  gov- 
ernment is  counterpoised  by  the  fellowship  of  the  churches  in 
matters  of  faith  and  practice  of  common  concernment.  No 
careful  reader  of  the  New  Testament  can  fail  to  be  impressed 
by  these  two  facts  as  constituting  the  method  and  adaptation 
of  Christianity  as  a  working  system — the  intense  'personality  or 
individualism  of  the  gospel,  in  its  instructions,  addresses,  and 
promises  ;  and  the  spiritual  oneness  and  the  moral  co-operation 
of  all  who  accept  it.  It  is  the  beauty  of  Congregationalism,  that 
it  combines  in  their  just  proportions  these  two  features  or  ele- 
ments of  the  embodied  Christianity  of  the  New  Testament. 
Wherever  organic  unity  is  placed  first  in  order,  the  source  of 
vital  power  in  the  organization  itself  is  wanting  ;  for  the  vital 
power  resides  not  in  the  ecclesiastical  system,  but  in  the  indivi- 
dual souls  who  compose  the  organization,  and  who  make  it  vital 
through  their  personal  union  with  Christ  by  his  Spirit.  Out  of 
this  individual,  personal  union  with  and  resemblance  to  Christ 
arises  the  moral  affinity  of  all  true  believers,  which  draws  them 
together  in  associations  for  his  service  and  glory,  and  combines 
them  for  more  efficient  action.  And  as  among  the  individual 
members  of  the  local  church,  so  in  the  relation   of  churches  to 


35 

one  another,  the  recognized  independence  and  equality  of  each 
favors  the  fraternity  of  all.  They  co-operate  and  cohere,  not 
through  the  bands  of  an  ecclesiastical  system  controlling  or  com- 
pressing them,  l»nt  through  mural  affinities,  and  the  organic 
principles  of  life  and  love  which  they  derive  in  common  from 
Christ,  their  Head.  "  The  independence  of  the  local  church,  on 
the  one  side,  and,  on  the  other,  the  mutual  friendship  and  help- 
ful co-working  of  all  local  churches,"  have  been  aptly  styled 
••  the  two  foci  of  an  ellipse,"  which  maintain  our  communion  in 
the  integrity  of  its  several  parts,  and  in  harmony  of  adjustment 
and  unity  of  spirit  and  of  purpose,  alike  in  the  neighborhood, 
the   county,    the   State,   and   in  the  widest  sphere  of  national 

life. 

Sometimes,   however,   the   influence  of  one  of  these  centers 
seems  to  preponderate  over  the  other,  disturbing  the  balance  of 
the  system.    Thirty  years  ago,  the  tendency  in  New  England  was 
toward  a  more  compact  and  exclusive  administration  of  Church- 
polity  ;  while  at   the  West  the  tendency  was  rather  toward  an 
erratic  independency.     The  middle  ground   of  New  York  State, 
which,  by  right  of  pre-emption,  should  have  been  largely  Con- 
gregational,  was  occupied,   so  far  as  our  communion  was  con- 
cerned, by  churches  which,  under  a  "Plan  of  Union,"  had  allied 
themselves  to  another   ecclesiastical   system,   and  had  largely 
disused,  if  they  had  not  forfeited,  their  original  right  to    self- 
government.     The  organization  of  this   Church  was  the  begin- 
ning of  a  movement  which  led  to  the  recovery  of  many  of  these 
churches  to  their  primitive  constitution,  and  to  the  recognition 
of  the   church-polity  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  as  national  in  its 
adaptation  and  extent.     Here,  in  this  metropolis  of  the  nation, 
in    what    was  then    its   most  conspicuous  public  building— the 
resort  of  strangers  from  all  parts    of  the  country— was  estab- 
lished   a    church     which    commanded   the   confidence    of    the 
churches  of  New   England   by   its    steadfast  adherence  to  the 
faith  and  order  of  the  Fathers,  and  at  the  same  time  attracted 
the  sympathy  of  the  Western  churches  by  its  spirit  of  independ- 
ence and  its  zeal  for  progress.     It  is  not  too  much  to  claim  that 
this  church,  and  the  movement  of  which  it  was  the  nucleus,  was 
the  medium  of  fusing  the  old  and  the  new,  and  of  bringing  the 


36 

churches  of  the  East  and  the  West  to  the  consciousness  of  a  na- 
tional life.  It  was  the  pastor  of  this  church  who  drafted  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Association  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  which 
brought  the  infant  churches  of  this  vicinity  into   vital  com- 
munion ;  who  proposed  the  establishment,  and  for  years  assisted 
in  the  conduct,  of  a  weekly  journal,  which  did  so  much  to  assert 
the  power  and  to  aid  the  progress  of  the  principle  of  liberty  in 
Church   and    State  ;   who,   in    the  General  Association  of  the 
State,  exposed  the  unequal  and  injurious  working  of  the  so-called 
"  Plan  of  Union,"  and  moved  its  discontinuance — for  peace  with 
a  sister  denomination,  as  well  as  for  the  progress  of  our  own  ; 
and,  again,  it  was  the  pastor  of  this   church  who,  as  chairman 
of  a  committee  of  the  New  York  General  Association,  prepared 
the  call  and  constructed  the  plan  for  that  great  "  Convention  of 
Ministers    and    Delegates  of  Congregational  Churches    in    the 
United  States,"  which  met  at  Albany  in  1852,  and  which  was 
the  first  step  toward  the  unification  of  the  Congregational  body 
throughout  the  country. 

This  series  of  measures,  representing  the  spirit  of  this  church, 
gave  to  it  a  national  reputation  for  leadership  in  its  own  com- 
munion ;  and  because  of  its  cordial  and  comprehensive  spirit  in 
all  things  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  that  communion,  as  well 
as  on  account  of  its  geographical  location,  it  has  been  the  chosen 
center  for  meetings  and  movements  which  concerned  the  whole 
Congregational  body.  The  American  Congregational  Union 
was  formed  at  the  Old  Tabernacle  ;  and  within  these  Avails,  at 
the  call  of  a  committee  of  the  Union,  composed  of  members  of 
this  church,  assembled,  in  1864,  the  preliminary  conference  which 
convened  the  great  National  Council  at  Boston,  in  1865.  Here 
also  met,  in  1870,  the  national  delegation  which  planned  for  the 
Jubilee  of  the  Pilgrims,  by  commemorative  services  at  Chicago, 
at  Boston,  at  Plymouth,  and  by  concerted  preaching  and  contri- 
butions all  over  the  United  States.  May  this  church  never 
become  so  absorbed  in  caring  for  its  own  affairs  as  to  recede 
from  that  position  of  national  preferment,  in  respect  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  the  progress  of  its  own  communion,  to  which  it  has 
attained  by  fidelity  in  upholding,  and  by  generosity  in  giving. 
III.  Standing  upon  this  platform  of  governmental  independ- 


37 

ence  and  of  spiritual  communion,  this  church,  by  its  teaching, 

its  example,  and  its  co-operative  action,  lias  cordially  illustrated 
and  promoted  the  unity  of  the  church  universal.  This  is  a 
Congregational  Church  ;  but  this  name  has  never  been  with  it  a 
war-cry  on  the  battle-field  of  sects  ;  it  is  simply  a  term  of  con- 
venience, to  express  the  fact  that  all  ecclesiastical  power  resides 
in  the  congregation  of  believers  associated  by  covenant  in  one 
church-brotherhood.  The  name  "  Congregational "  does  not  once 
occur  in  the  title  of  this  church,  in  its  articles,  or  in  its  rules. 
Its  corporate  title  was  derived  from  the  Old  Tabernacle  in  which 
it  began  its  worship  ;  but  its  Christian  name  is  simply  and  solely 
— a  church  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  idea  that  an  association  or  a 
community  of  believers,  for  the  expression  of  Christian  faith,  the 
observance  of  Christian  worship  and  sacraments,  and  the  main- 
tenance of  Christian  fellowship  and  work,  constitutes  a  church 
of  Christ,  without  regard  to  its  modes  of  ecclesiastical  adminis- 
tration,— this  fundamental  principle  in  its  own  platform  causes 
this  church  to  recognize  and  to  fellowship  all  other  communions 
of  believers  that  are  constituted  upon  the  declaration  of  faith  in 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  In  order  to  this  fellowship, 
no  modification  or  concession  of  its  principles  is  required  ;  it 
waives  no  peculiarities,  enters  into  no  stipulations,  concerts  no 
alliances  ;  its  platform  is  the  freedom  of  believers  in  Christ  to 
associate  themselves  under  Him  ;  the  equality  of  all  churches 
and  communions  as  toward  one  another  ;  and  the  unity  of  them 
all  in  Christ,  their  Head.  For  this  church  to  question  the  title 
of  any  other,  because  of  its  ecclesiastical  constitution — whether 
as  hierarchical  as  that  of  the  Latin  and  the  Eastern  churches  ; 
or  as  informal  as  that  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren  and  the  Society 
of  Friends — for  this  church  to  dispute  the  validity  of  ordination 
and  of  sacraments  in  any  other,  because  administered  through 
a  bishop,  a  classis,  or  a  presbytery,  would  be  to  deny  the 
foundation  upon  which  itself  is  constituted — that  every  body 
of  believers,  organized  in  the  faith  of  Christ  and  for  the 
work  of  Christ,  is  a  church  competent  and  authorized  to  ap- 
point officers,  conduct  worship,  and  administer  sacraments  in 
its  own  way.  This  Church  does  not  insist  that  others  shall 
come  upon  its  ecclesiastical  platform  as  a  condition  of  fellow- 


ship  ;  it  does  not  propose  to  construct  a  new  platform,  upon 
which  different  churches  can  meet  together ;  it  goes  forth 
in  this  spirit  of  Christ  to  meet  all  communions  upon  its  own 
platform,  which  underlies  them  all  :  it  insists  upon  recognizing 
them  as  churches  in  all  things  equal  to  itself.  I  do  not 
know  that  there  exists  another  church  of  any  communion 
which  has  laid  down,  as  the  first  article  of  its  creed,  a 
declaration  like  that  which  opens  the  Confession  of  Faith  of 
the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church: — "As  a  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  associated  in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  the  New 
Testament,  for  the  public  worship  of  God,  for  the  observance  of 
gospel  sacraments  and  ordinances,  for  mutual  edification  and 
encouragement  in  the  Christian  lvfe,  and  for  the  advancement  of 
the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  we  declare  our  union  in  faith  and  love 
ivith  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Upon  this  basis, 
what  glorious  meetings  have  been  held  within  these  walls,  directly 
for  the  furtherance  of  Christian  union,  or  under  the  inspiration 
of  its  spirit,  for  the  advancement  of  our  common  Christianity  ! 
How  the  noble  eloquence  of  Hitchcock,  Duryea,  and  Tyng  has 
here  resounded — the  latter  once  calling  this  "  Liberty-comer  ;" 
how  the  mellifluous  voice  of  Bishop  Janes,  leading  our  devotions, 
has  drawn  forth  our  fervid  aniens  ;  how  the  venerable  patriarch 
of  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  and  the  stately  rector  of  Trinity,  have 
here  found  utterance  for  their  opposite  theories  of  apostolical 
succession  and  sacramental  grace,  while  we  made  the  responses 
of  their  accustomed  liturgy;  and  how  memorable  was  that  field- 
night,  when  Vermilye  and  Vinton  and  Armitage  here  held  high 
tournament  for  Christian  union,  "provoking  one  another  unto 
love,"  while  your  pastor  awarded  the  prizes  impartially  to  each  ! 
May  this  pulpit  never  be  desecrated  by  sectarian  utterances. 
May  no  embassador  of  the  faith,  be  he  a  Hyacinthe,*  a  Peabody, 

*  The  following  note  is  inserted  here  to  illustrate  the  spirit  in  which  the 
pastor  would  express  Christian  fellowship  : 

Rev  Father  Hvacinthe: 

Sir  : — Believing  that  many  of  your  countrymen  in  New  York  would  he 
glad  to  hear  the  gospel  at  your  eloquent  lips,  I  am  happy  to  place  the  central 
and  commodious  church  known  as  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  at  your  disposal 
for  preaching  a  service  in  French,  on  any  Sunday  afternoon  or  evening.     This 


39 

or  a  Gurney,  ever  be  debarred  from  it  by  reason  of  his  church  or 
no-church  connection  ;  if  only  he  have  the  faith  and  the  spirit 
of  Christ.  May  this  pulpit  ever  faithfully  represent  the  first 
article  of  the  Faith  of  the  Church  ;  that  through  fidelity  to  the 
polity  by  which  we  have  prospered,  it  may  be  liberal  and  loving 
toward  the  Holy  Church  Universal — showing  that  to  be  inde- 
pendent is  to  be  united,  that  to  be  Congregational  is  to  be 
Catholic. 

IV.  From  the  ecclesiastical  position  and  influence  of  this 
church,  we  turn  to  its  relations  to  society  and  the  State,  upon 
the  momentous  questions  of  political  and  social  ethics  which 
have  agitated  our  recent  times.  No  church  in  the  land  was 
more  fully  identified  with  the  great  moral  conflict  with  slavery 
for  the  twenty  years  preceding  Mr.  Lincoln's  decree  of  emanci- 
pation. From  its  earliest  utterances  to  its  latest,  this  pulpit  has 
been  sustained  by  the  sentiment  of  the  church  in  denouncing 
slavery  as  a  crime  against  God  and  man.  Again  and  again  have 
such  utterances  been  called  for  by  the  church,  for  a  wider  circu- 
lation through  the  press. 

Twenty-five  years  ago,  the  slave-power  began  that  series 
of  aggressions  upon  the  constitutional  compacts  and  the 
traditional  liberties  of  the  nation,  which  at  length  roused 
the  conscience  of  the  people  for  the  issue  of  arms.  Along  that 
whole  line  of  attack  this  church  wras  in  the  field,  resisting 
at  every  point  of  moral  vantage,  and  rallying  the  community 

invitation  places  the  service  under  your  direction,  without  condition  or  reserva- 
tion. It  is  given  as  a  tribute  to  your  Christian  manliness  and  truth,  and  your 
fidelity  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel ;  and  in  the  name  of  that  Catholicity  which 
is  above  all  divisions  of  the  Church,  of  that  charity  which  is  broader  than 
names  or  nations,  of  that  liberty  which  you  have  so  nobly  illustrated  and  main- 
tained, of  that  truth  which  you  have  so  fearlessly  proclaimed  ;  and,  finally,  in 
the  name  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  Supreme  Head  of  the 
Church  Catholic  and  Universal. 

Accept  the  assurances  of  my  profound  esteem, 

JOSEPH  P.  THOMPSON,  Pastor. 
NeicYork,  29th  Oct.,  1869. 

To  this  Father  Hyacinthe  replied  that  the  delicacy  of  his  relations  to  his  own 
Church  rendered  it  inexpedient  for  bim  to  exercise  his  priestly  functions  at 
that  time  ;  but  should  he  preach  at  all  in  New  York,  he  would  certainly  accept 
an  invitation  so  free  and  so  fraternal. 


40 

to  the  defense  of  justice  and  humanity.  In  1848,  when  the 
attempt  was  made  to  force  slavery  into  territory  before  con- 
secrated to  freedom,  the  appeal  to  Christian  men  "  to  do  their 
utmost  to  defeat  that  great  wickedness  "  was  canied  by  you  to 
the  polls,  and  made  to  tell  upon  the  action  of  political  parties. 
In  September,  1850,  when  Congress  passed,  that  most  infamous 
act  of  modern  legislation,  the  Fugitive-Slave  law,  you  upheld 
your  pulpit  in  asserting  the  higher  law  of  Christ,  which  made 
that  act  a  nullity  before  the  bar  of  conscience.  The  declaration, 
u  the  fugitive  shall  not  be  surrendered  ;  he  shall  have  protec- 
tion ;  he  shall  have  bread  ;  he  shall  have  money;  he  shall  have 
shelter,  though  at  the  penalty  of  imprisonment  for  his  sake  ; 
obedience  to  such  a  law  is  crime  ;  we  stand  upon  the  brotherhood 
of  the  race  redeemed  by  Christ ;  and  take  our  high  appeal  to  the 
word  and  the  throne  of  God  ;" — that  declaration  of  the  gospel 
of  humanity  met  an  enthusiastic  response  from  the  vast  congre- 
gation of  the  Tabernacle  ;  you  demanded  the  discourse  for  repe- 
tition— for  publication  ;  and  when  its  doctrine  raised  from  press 
and  platform  and  pulpit  a  storm  of  obloquy  and  abuse  never 
exceeded  ;  when  a  leading  clergyman  denounced  it  as  treason, 
and  a  leading  journal  counseled  you  to  "  leave  such  a  preacher 
to  bare  walls,"  to  "strip  him  of  his  bread  and  butter,"  and  "to 
"  roll  his  black  coat  in  the  mire,"  you  rallied  around  your  pastor 
with  a  zeal  which  multiplied  his  words  a  thousand-fold.  For  a 
time  we  stood  almost  alone  in  this  community,  in  the  fore-front 
of  that  battle  ; — the  Congregational  platform  was  my  liberty,  as 
it  was  your  power.  Representing  no  party,  political  or  ecclesias- 
tical, and  no  convention  or  society  for  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
we  held  up  to  the  conscience  of  the  Christian  community  the  sin 
of  abetting  the  extension  of  slavery,  the  duty  of  exterminating 
it  from  every  foot  of  soil  under  the  national  jurisdiction,  and  of 
putting  it  under  the  ban  of  Christian  sentiment  wherever  we 
could  not  reach  it  by  legislation  or  by  vote.  Ours  was  a 
religious  crusade  ;  its  motto,  "  Christianity  and  slavery  cannot 
live  together." 

Some  utterances  of  those  days  now  seem  almost  prophetic. 
As  in  1856,  it  was  said,  "  Slavery  must  go  down  ;  but  this 
nation,  like  Rome,  may  first   go  down  in  the   struggle.     The 


41 

prayers  and  efforts  of  Christians  alone  can  avert  a  catas- 
trophe which  the  madness  of  rulers  is  hastening  on."  And  in 
1854,  "It  will  be  no  marvel  if  our  children  see  a  prostrate  com- 
merce, a  servile  insurrection,  or  a  civil  war  ;"  and  as  far  back  as 
1851,  when  it  was  said,  "  Either  Slavery  must  go  down  volun- 
tarily, speedily,  peaceably,  under  the  moral  influence  of  the 
gospel,  or  Slavery  or  Liberty  will  one  day  go  down  in  blood.''  It 
was  slavery  that  went  down,  and  went  down  in  blood — blood 
wrung  from  the  heart  of  Liberty  : — and  when  the  first  note  of 
war  sounded,  this  pulpit  was  of  the  very  first  voices  in  all  the 
land  to  proclaim  universal  emancipation  as  the  only  possible 
solution  of  the  struggle  ;  and  it  did  not  cease  to  call  for  this, 
measure  as  the  one  way  to  peace  and  national  unity,  until  the 
final  abolition  of  slavery  summoned  us  to  fill  these  arches  with 
hallelujahs  !  The  responses  to  this  demand,  which  poured  in 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  showed  how  truly  national  was 
the  influence  of  this  church  upon  the  questions  of  the  hour. 

As  one  agency  in  this  moral  warfare,  this  church  sustained 
Oberlin  College  because  of  its  justice  to  the  black  man  ;  and  it 
excluded  from  its  list  of  charities  those  publishing  and  mission 
societies  which  had  in  any  way  connived  at  slavery  or  truckled 
to  its  power. 

While  carrying  on  this  warfare,  by  its  own  weapons,  with  the 
real  enemy  of  the  country,  this  church  was  behind  no  other 
body,  religious  or  secular,  in  patriotic  zeal  and  sacrifice  for  the 
defense  of  the  nation.  From  its  congregation  five  and  twenty 
enlisted  in  the  army  ;  five  of  these  died  in  the  service,  of  whom 
two  were  brought  home  to  be  buried  lovingly  from  the  bosom  of 
the  church.  The  Sanitary,  Christian,  and  Union  commissions  had 
its  constant  and  energetic  support  ;  the  great  Fairs  were  largely 
officered  and  equipped  from  the  women  of  this  congregation.  By 
solemn  vote  and  prayer  you  sent  your  pastor  to  minister  in  your 
name  upon  the  battle-fields  of  Tennessee  ;  and  you  greeted  his 
return  with  fresh  outpourings  of  your  bounty  for  the  soldiers  ; 
again  and  again  you  draped  organ  and  pulpit  with  flags,  and 
made  this  a  rallying-ground  for  Liberty  and  Union  under  the 
uplifted  banner  of  the  cross  ;  and  when  all  was  over  you  held  with- 
in these  walls  a  majestic  requiem  for  three  hundred  thousand  dead. 


42 

But  there  was  one  incident  of  the  war  which  signalized  the 
loyal  devotion  of  this  church  to  the  country  and  to  Christ.  It 
was  in  that  darkest  hour  when  delays  and  defeats  had  so  blighted 
hope  that  treason  came  out  from  its  lurking-places  in  the  North, 
and  hissed  its  venom  at  the  Government  ;  when  the  President 
hesitated  either  to  enforce  the  draft  or  to  call  for  volunteers;  and 
when  timid  Conservatives  began  to  say,  "  We  had  better  give  it 
up  and  make  terms."  Your  pastor  came  into  the  pulpit  with  a 
plea  for  Christian  manhood,  saying  :  "  Of  what  avail  are  our 
churches,  if  we  shall  no  longer  have  a  government  or  a  country? 
•Of  what  worth  is  our  Christianity  if  it  cannot  preserve  these?  If 
the  Government  cannot  save  the  country,  let  the  churches  save 
both.  Let  this  church  call  for  volunteers  ;  equip  a  regiment, 
and  put  it  into  the  field,  to  show  that  we  will  never  give  it  up." 
At  the  close  of  the  service  some  one  called  upon  the  congregation 
to  remain;  proposed  a  subscription  for  a  church  regiment;  and 
before  night  of  that  memorable  Sabbath,  upwards  of  thirty 
thousand  dollars  were  laid  upon  this  altar.  Two  women  sent 
>me  each  five  hundred  dollars,  saying,  "  We  cannot  go;  put  men  in 
•our  stead."  That  action  went  like  a  flash  of  electricity  through 
the  land ;  it  brought  letters  of  thanks  from  Senators  at  Wash- 
ington, from  members  of  the  Cabinet,  from  generals  in  the 
field.  It  cheered  the  burdened  heart  of  the  President,  and  gave 
■new  courage  to  his  indomitable  Minister  of  War.  Though  the 
immediate  action  of  the  Government  superseded  this  new 
recruiting  office,  yet  the  spontaneous  and  magnanimous  act  of 
that  day  will  forever  stand  as  the  proudest  memento  of  our 
Christian  patriotism. 

The  war  ended,  and  the  great  organic  sin  of  the  nation  wiped 
•out,  this  church,  feeling  its  responsibility  at  a  post  so  central 
and  commanding,  at  once  sounded  the  alarm  of  two  dangers 
that  seemed  to  threaten  our  peace,  and  that  have  since  con- 
vulsed this  city  and  commonwealth  with  the  effort  to  shake 
them  off: — Social  luxury,  begetting  commercial  and  political 
corruption,  and  Romish  sectarianism  invading  our  common 
•schools,  perverting  our  public  charities,  and  grasping  at  the  offices 
of  the  State.  Long  before  the  press  uttered  one  warning  of  these 
impending  evils,  or  assemblies  and  conventions  of  citizens  began  to 


43 


take  them  in  hand,  this  church  lifted  up  its  voice,  cried  aloud,  and 
spared  not,  for  the  rescue  of  the  city  from  vice,  crime,  and  mis- 
rule, and  for  the  preservation  of  religious  liberty  from  the  mach- 
inations of  a  political  church.  All  that  a  church  could  do  was 
here  done  to  produce  that  public  sentiment  which  has  just  tri- 
umphed so  signally  over  political  debauchery,  and  which  is  yet 
to  triumph  over  sectarian  audacity. 

V.  While  the  evils  which  the  war  engendered  or  brought  to 
the  surface  thus  aroused  our  moral  antagonism,  the  openings  it 
made  for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  southward  and 
westward,  gave  anew  impulse  to  our  charities.     This  church, 
which  had  so  long  labored  and  prayed  for  the  emancipation  of 
the  slave,  was  forward  to  work  and  to  give  for  the  education  of 
the  freedman.     This  church,  which  had  always  cherished  Home 
Missions  as  the  chief  agency  of  our  national  salvation,  now  gave 
to    church-building    and  missionary  evangelism  a  prominence 
proportionate  to  the  new  demands  of  the  times.     Since  the  war, 
it  has  given  some  thirty  thousand  dollars  directly  to  these  sev- 
eral forms  of  home  missionary  work.     This  mention  of  particular 
charities  brings  me  to  speak  of  the  relations  of  this  church  to  the 
progress  of  Christ's  kingdom  throughout  the  world.     From  its 
bosom  have  gone  forth  missionaries  to  Micronesia,  to  Bulgaria,  to 
Asia  Minor,  and  to  Central  Asia.     It  has  had  living  representa- 
tives of  its  spirit  and  work  in  Italy,  in  Spain,  and  in  Mexico  ; 
and  brethren  who  have  gone  from  it  to  new  settlements  in  our 
own  broad  West,  as  ministers  or  as  laymen,  have  reproduced  its 
articles,  its  rules,  and  sometimes  its  name,  in  tabernacles  in  the 
wilderness.     Missionaries  from  every  quarter,  either  from  some 
personal  tie  or  local  association,  or  by  the  atmosphere  of  the 
place,  have  been  drawn  to  this  church  with  a  home  feeling,  and 
have  met  here  a  home  welcome.     WThat  precious  memories  arise 
of  Bridel,  Dwight,   Goodell,   King,  Lobdell,   Perkins,  Scudder, 
Stoddard,  no  weathered  to  the  assembly  of  tlie  Just  made  Per_ 
fect  ;—0f  Bushnell,  Calhoun,  Hamlin,  Lindlay,  Marsh,  Schauf- 
fler, '  Spaulding,  Thomson,  Walker,  Wood,  among  the  living, 
who  have  thrilled  our  hearts  and  quickened  our  faith  with  the 
recital  of  God's  work  in  distant  lands  ! 

Especially  has  the  church  cherished  the  international  sym- 


44 

pathies  of  the  Christian  faith.  Twice  has  your  pastor  been  a 
representative  of  the  Congregational  Communion  before  kindred 
bodies  in  England,  Wales,  France,  and  Italy  ;  and  how  often 
has  the  courtesy  shown  to  him  in  this  capacity  been  reciprocated 
by  you  to  the  representatives  of  other  nationalities  !  Here  Wad- 
dington  was  introduced  to  the  heirs  of  the  Pilgrims'  faith,  with 
his  wondrous  story  of  the  cost  of  that  inheritance  in  the  stripes 
and  bonds  and  blood  of  the  Fathers.  Here  Massie  was  wel- 
comed as  an  embassador  of  British  Christians  and  philanthro- 
pists, with  messages  of  peace.  Here  Monod  was  welcomed  with 
like  messages  from  brethren  of  France  and  Switzerland.  Here 
Vaughan,  who  came  with  the  greetings  of  the  Congregational 
Union  of  England  to  our  National  Council,  preached  his  last 
sermon  ;  here  Newman  Hall  rang  that  great  bell  of  free  salva- 
tion, whose  echoes  still  vibrate  in  our  ears.  Here  Hyacinthe  has 
worshiped  with  us  as  your  pastor's  guest,  confessing  the  same 
faith  in  love  and  unity.  Here  SchafF  has  preached  to  Germans 
in  their  own  tongue,  and  Pilatte  to  Frenchmen  in  theirs.  It 
was  a  brother  of  this  church,  converted  here,  who  years  ago 
began  that  work  of  Bible  colportage  which  is  now  filling  Spain 
with  the  word  of  God ;  and  it  was  the  wise,  patient,  and  self- 
sacrificing  labors,  and  the  magnetizing  personal  influence  of  a 
deacon  of  this  Church,  seconded  by  a  visit  of  your  pastor  to 
Spain,  which  organized  upon  sound  and  efficient  principles  the 
work  of  evangelization  in  that  country,  which  has  now  been 
assumed  by  the  American  Board.  In  the  home  field,  this 
church  has  fostered  those  institutions  that  give  permanence  to 
our  Christian  civilization — the  church  and  the  college.  The 
theological  seminaries  at  New  Haven,  at  Oberlin,  and  at  Oak- 
land, California,  have  shared  largely  in  its  beneficence.  . 

During  the  past  twenty-six  years,  it  has  contributed  to  various 

objects  of  benevolence $350,000 

It  has  raised  for  sustaining  its  own  worship  .  .  233,000 
Add  to  this  toward  the  purchase  of  the  Old  Tabernacle,  15,000 
To  cancel  the  debt  on  this  house  .         .  65,000 

For  repairs  and  improvements  here  .         .         .         15,000 

$678,000 


45 

Which  the  munificent  provision  for  the  retiring  pas- 
tor advances  to  more  than  ....  $730,000 
VI.  Though  I  have  spoken  so  much  at  large  of  the  public 
and  external  work  of  this  church,  it  is  not  that  I  would  give  to 
this  the  foremost  place  in  its  history.  Not  Congregationalism,  nor 
Christian  union,  nor  Christian  patriotism,  nor  Christian  mis- 
sions, nor  universal  Philanthropy,  conveys  the  best  expresssion 
of  its  life  and  work.  Rather  must  this  be  sought  in  its  inner 
life  and  growth  as  a  church  of  Christ,  and  in  its  local  work  of 
gathering  souls  into  his  kingdom.  Its  increase  from  67  members 
to  an  average  of  nearly  600,  the  addition  under  this  pastorate  of 
457  on  confession  of  their  faith,  and  900  by  letter — a  total  of 
1,357 — is  but  an  imperfect  numerical  sign  of  a  life  and  growth 
which  cannot  be  expressed  in  terms.  No  stereotyped  phrases  of 
theology,  no  traditional  forms  of  worship  or  of  action,  have 
cramped  the  development  of  its  spiritual  activity.  It  has 
grown  from  within  by  feeding  upon  the  word  of  God.  The 
great  central  truth  of  Christ  crucified  as  the  alone  Saviour  of  our 
sinful  race  ;  the  divine  origin  of  the  way  of  redemption  revealed 
in  the  Bible  ,  its  divine  attestation  through  the  life,  the  works, 
the  teachings  of  the  incarnate  Son  of  God  ;  its  divine  applica- 
tion  through  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  the  personality  of 
religion  in  all  the  relations  of  the  human  spirit  to  kindred  spirits, 
and  to  the  divine  ; — in  one  word,  the  living  reality  of  God, 
of  the  Bible,  of  sin,  of  the  Saviour,  of  regeneration  and  holiness, 
of  the  judgment  and  the  future  state  of  reward  and  punishment 
— this  grand  system  of  the  doctrines  of  grace  has  been  the  source 
of  the  strength  and  growth  of  this  church,  and  the  inspiration 
of  all  its  activity.  But  these  doctrines  have  been  presented 
with  reference  to  the  changing  phases  of  society,  to  the  facts  and 
theories  of  science,  the  spirit  of  scholarly  criticism,  and  the  wants 
of  the  times.  Educated  mind  has  been  represented  in  this  con- 
gregation by  an  average  of  at  least  forty  college  graduates  among 
its  stated  worshipers  ;  and  yet  the  humblest  and  least  favored 
have  here  found  the  gospel  suited  to  their  needs.  In  its  use 
and  application  of  divine  truth,  this  has  been  a  living  church  : 
and  as  a  living  church,  it  has  been  a  growing  and  a  working 
church. 


46 

The  Bible  class  for  young  men,  always  most  ably  taught,  has 
been  a  nursery  to  the  church  for  its  prayer  meetings  and  its  mis- 
sion work,  a  training  school  for  the  ministry  and  for  every  form 
of  evangelistic  labor  ;  a  home  for  strangers,  a  nucleus  of  social 
religious  life.  Sabbath  schools  and  mission  schools,  efficiently 
appointed,  have  drawn  out  the  activity  of  the  church  to  such  an 
extent  that  at  one  period — before  city  missions  were  reduced  to 
their  present  system — there  were  no  less  than  five  mission  schools 
officered  almost  entirely  from  our  membership.  At  intervals, 
glorious  revivals  have  cheered  our  hearts  with  large  and  precious 
ingatherings.  Most  memorable  was  that  occasion,  when,  to  aid 
your  pastor,  you  invited  dear  blessed  Father  Finney  to  preach 
again  in  the  house  that  was  built  for  him  at  the  first.  Those 
months  were  memorable  in  the  fruits  of  grace. 

The  sanctification  of  the  church,  and  the  conversion  of  sinners 
unto  God,  should  be  the  absorbing,  the  untiring  aim  of  the  Chris- 
tian ministry.  To  lead  the  whole  membership  of  the  church  up 
to  the  highest  point  of  Christian  experience,  both  in  enjoyment 
and  in  efficiency,  and  so  to  make  the  pulpit  and  the  church  a  con- 
stant power  for  good  upon  society,  bringing  the  masses  under 
the  saving  influences  of  the  gospel ; — this  is  the  noble  calling  of 
the  pastor,  and  this  the  true  conception  of  our  polity.  But  who 
is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?  The  failure  to  work  out  these 
problems  to  their  highest,  best  results  has  long  oppressed  me, 
and  is  the  one  burden  of  this  parting  hour.  But  while  I  am 
ashamed  of  the  failure  of  my  ministry,  in  respect  to  its  own  ideal 
of  a  pastor's  work,  "  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ." 
This  is  "  the  wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion ;"  and  this  church,  guided  by  that  wisdom,  shall  both  wit- 
ness that  power,  and  wield  it,  for  ye  are  co-workers  with  God. 
For  this  the  church  is  ably  officered,  and  its  membership  is  in 
excellent  drill.  In  the  old  Tabernacle,  we  did  give  the  gospel  to 
the  masses,  and  bring  the  masses  to  the  gospel  ;  but  this  was  to 
the  prejudice  of  a  stable  congregation,  which  alone  can  sustain 
the  ministry.*    Here,  with  such  a  congregation,  we  have  endeav- 

*  With  an  audience  of  2,500,  our  receipts  from  pew-rents  were  only  from 
$1,500  to  $2,000,  and  about  $1,500  from  collections.  The  rentings  of  the  house 
supplemented  our  resources,  but  these  prejudiced  many  against  taking  pews. 
We  gave  the  gospel  for  years  to  young  men,  to  strangers,  and  to  the  poor. 


47 

ored  to  reach  the  floating  population  by  our  free  evening  service  ; 
but,  with  a  limited  success  as  compared  with  the  first  twelve  years 
of  my  ministry  among  you. 

I  cannot  doubt  that  the  change  which  the  providence 
of  God  has  made  imperative,  the  grace  of  God  will  pro\re 
to  be  also  timely  : — that  new  modes  of  argument,  illustra- 
tion, and  appeal  in  presenting  the  same  truths  of  the  same  gos- 
pel will  bring  new  minds  under  its  influence,  and  will  so  quicken 
the  spirituality  of  the  Church,  that  church  piety  shall  become 
practical  power  in  bringing  multitudes  to  Christ,  and  to  God, 
who  only  doeth  wondrous  things,  shall  be  all  the  praise. 

I  count  it  the  great  privilege  of  my  life,  as  it  has  been  ray 
constant  joy,  to  have  been  identified  with  such  a  church  in  such 
a  history  {—identified,  I  say,  for  all  that  God  had  given  me, 
brain,  muscle,  heart,  spirit,  with  all  that  study,  observation, 
and  experience  could  gather,  has  been  wrought  into  the  work  of 
this  church  for  now  almost  twenty-seven  years.  Indeed,  I  have 
had  no  life  separate  from  the  life  of  this  church.  All  that  I 
have  gathered  of  knowledge,  all  that  I  have  received  of  honors, 
has  been  unreservedly  yours  ;  and  all  that  you  could  bestow  of 
confidence,  sympathy,  co-operation,  and  support,  has  been  mine 
with  unvarying,  unabated  affection  to  the  end.  That  a  ministry 
should  be  more  blessed  and  more  rewarding  is  hardly  to  be  con- 
ceived ;  that  its  close  could  be  more  beautiful  and  honorable  in 
the  reciprocity  of  love,  is  not  possible.  And  yet,  I  leave  such  a 
ministry  and  such  a  people  without  one  repining  thought.  Its 
imperfections,  both  of  spirit  and  performance,  are  known  to  Him 
to  whom  these  all  have  been  confessed,  and  are  committed  to 
His  mercy.  Yet  with  the  deepest  consciousness  that  "  we  are 
unprofitable  servants,"  if  we  have  truly  sought  to  do  the  work 
that  God  had  given  us  to  do,  then  may  we,  without  repining, 
relinquish  our  work  when  the  Master  calls  us  from  it.  The 
work  is  everything  ;  the  instrument  is  nothing,  only  as  he  is 
made  a  partaker  of  the  work.  And  the  work  of  this  church  shall 
stand,  for  it  is  of  God. 

For  a  people  who  have  approved  themselves  so  capable  and  so 
worthy,  I  have  no  words  of  counsel  or  of  exhortation  ;  my  grati- 
tude and  love  I  have  expressed  in  another  place,  as-  in  the  bosom 


48 

of  a  family  ; — for  this  public  place  and  this  parting  hour,  there 
remain  only  words  of  thanksgiving,  of  hope,  and  of  rejoicing. 
The  topmost  round  of  yonder  tower  is  the  foundation  of  a  spire 
pictured  in  the  original  plan  of  the  church  two  hundred  feet 
above  its  present  elevation.  The  men  who  built  upon  the  rock 
a  tower  so  broad  and  firm  can  build  the  spire  soaring  in  majesty 
and  beauty  toward  the  sky.  Even  so,  under  the  guiding  hand 
of  some  master-builder  appointed  of  God,  I  seem  to  see  this  spirit- 
ual building  growing  more  vast  and  splendid  upon  these  founda- 
tions laid  in  faith  and  cemented  with  love  :  its  pillars  rising  to 
loftier  heights  more  and  more  majestic  ;  its  arches  springing  with 
a  sweep  ;  its  towers  growing  toward  the  heavens,  wrought  of  all 
manner  of  stones,  and  pealing  forth  the  chimes  with  which  the 
angels  welcomed  the  Saviour  of  the  world  ;  while  within  its 
walls  are  throngs  of  Pentecostal  converts,  aflame  with  the  new 
fire  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  joining  in  adoration  of  the  Lamb. 
No  cathedral  of  the  Old  World  could  draw  my  eyes  away  from 
that  so  blessed  vision.  With  this  yearning  hope,  this  prophetic 
prayer,  this  apostolic  benediction,  dear  brethren,  "I  now  commend 
you  to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace,  which  is  able  to  build 
you  up,  and  to  give  you  an  inheritance  among  all  them  which  are 
sanctified."     Amen. 


ACTION  OF  THE   SOCIETY. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Society,  held  on 
the  evening  of  the  14th  November,  1871,  the  following  preamble 
and  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

WHEREAS,  The  Rev.  Joseph  P.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  by  reason  of  impaired 
health,  has  resigned  his  office  as  pastor  of  this  church  and  society,  alter  labor- 
ing among  us  almost  twenty-seven  years  ;   therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  trustees  of  this  society  be,  and  are  hereby  directed,  to 
pay  to  him,  on  or  before  the  fifteenth  day  of  April,  1872,  the  sum  of  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  ($30,000)*  in  consideration  of  services  he  has  rendered  to  the 
society  during  the  term  of  his  pastorate. 

Resolved,  That  we  sincerely  concur  in  the  expressions  of  sorrow  and  sympa- 
thy, adopted  at  the  informal  meeting  of  the  church  and  society  on  Monday,  2od 
ult.,  and  at  the  meeting  of  the  church  on  Wednesday,  Nov.  1st ;  and  that  in  bid- 
ding farewell  to  our  pastor,  after  so  long,  faithful,  and  prosperous  a  career  in 
the  service  of  the  church  and  society,  we  tender  to  him  the  assurances  of  our 
best  wishes  and  earnest  prayers  for  the  restoration  of  comfortable  health,  for 
long-continued  life  and  happiness,  and  for  his  success  and  usefulness  in  those 
labors  in  the  investigation  and  illustration  of  Scripture  history  which  are  now 

before  him. 

T.  S.  BERRY,  Moderator. 

C.  B.  KNEVALS,  Clerk. 


*  This  appropriation  ol  thirty  thousand  dollars,  which  represents  the  whole  Congregation 
in  its  corporate  capacity,  ie  in  addition  to  the  personal  subscription  at  the  informal  meeting 
[see  p.  17.]  which  has  since  reached  the  sum  of  nearly  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 


ADJOURNED    MEETING 


BROADWAY    TABERNACLE    SOCIETY. 


At  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle 
Society,  held  on  the  evening  of  Nov.  22d,  the  following  letter 
from  the  retiring  Pastor  was  read  and  ordered  to  be  prints, 
together  with  the  minutes  of  the  Society  above  approved. 

C.  B.  Knrvals,  Clerk. 

To  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Society: 

My  Dear  and  Honored  Friends — The  expression  of  your 
"sorrow  and  sympathy"  for  me  under  the  disabilities  which 
have  compelled  my  retirement  from  the  pastoral  office,  and  the 
assurance  of  your  best  wishes  and  earnest  prayers  for  my  future 
"  health  and  happiness,"  have  so  unnerved  me  by  emotion,  that 
I  can  hardly  trust  my  pen — and  I  am  sure  I  could  not  trust  my 
voice — to  convey  to  you  my  gratitude  and  devotiou.  Now  that 
the  strain  under  which  I  had  so  long  labored,  in  the  endeavor  to 
be  faithful  to  my  post,  is  relaxed,  I  begin  to  realize  how  shattered 
and  worthless  I  am.  The  necessity  for  the  step  which  I  have 
taken  must  be  apparent  to  all.  Every  physician  to  whom  I 
have  stated  my  case  reproves  me  for  having  so  greatly  exhausted 
that  nervous  vitality  which  is  the  condition  of  a  healthy  mind. 

But  I  am  more  than  compensated  for  the  loss  of  physical 
vitality  by  the  spiritual  life  which  has  been  infused  into  me  by 


51 

the  love  of  my  people.  Was  there  ever  before  just  such  a 
parting  between  a  pastor  and  his  flock  ?  All  the  tender  and 
•grateful  tributes  which  Death  is  accustomed  to  call  forth,  it  is 
permitted  me  to  receive,  and  at  the  same  time  to  enter  upon  a 
new  life  of  hope. 

The  munificent  provision  you  have  made  for  my  temporal 
support  encourages  me  to  look  forward  to  the  useful  employment 
of  my  remaining  life  in  a  sphere  kindred  to  that  in  which  I  have 
iabored  for  more  than  thirty  years.  The  Universal  Church 
applauds  your  generosity,  and  I  have  poured  out  my  thanks- 
giving into  the  ear  of  all  the  world.  But  it  will  be  mine,  year 
by  year,  and  day  by  day,  while  life  shall  last,  to  cherish  you 
in  your  gift,  and  to  honor  that  by  using  it  worthily  in  the 
service  of  Christ  and  of  his  Church.  Though  silenced  myself,  I 
may  yet  preach  through  others  by  contributing  somewhat  to 
their  materials  for  illustrating  and  maintaining  the  truth  of 
God's  holy  word  ;  and  whatever  good  I  may  do  hereafter  will  be 
the  fruit  of  your  bounty. 

But  while  praising  and  blessing  you  for  this,  I  am  touched 
even  more  deeply  with  the  sentiments  of  affection,  respect,  and 
sympathy  with  which  you  have  so  enriched  and  magnified  your 
material  benefaction.  I  thank  you  that  you  have  been  so 
-considerate  of  my  infirmities  and  failures,  and  so  generous  in  my 
support.  And  I  thank  God  for  all  the  prosperity  that  He  has 
given  you,  and  pray  that  He  may  grant  you,  as  a  Society,  increas- 
ing favor  and  usefulness,  and  may  multiply  to  you,  as  individ- 
uals, all  blessings,  temporal  and  spiritual.  Above  all,  may  He  soon 
send  you  a  pastor  worthy  of  your  love,  and  of  the  great  work  to 
\which  he  has  appointed  you. 

And  now,  in  bidding  farewell  to  my  beloved  people,  I  would 
recall  the  text  of  my  first  sermon — "  I  seek  not  yours,  but  you;" 
and,  by  all  the  love  of  this  parting  hour,  would  pray  that  I  may 
meet  you  all  in  our  Father's  house,  in  everlasting  joy. 

Yours  in  the  grateful  bonds  of  Christian  love, 

JOSEPH  P.  THOMPSON. 
Philadelphia,  Nov.  18th,  1871. 


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